The  History  and 

Conquest  °h'e  Philippines 


AND  OUR 


OTHER  ISLAND  POSSESSIONS 


By    ALDEN    MARCH,   A.  M. 

The  Noted  Journalist  and  Author. 


EMBRACING 

OUR  WAR  WITH   THE   FILIPINOS   IN    1899 

Together  With  a  Complete  History  of  Those  Islands  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Present 

AN  AUTHENTIC   HISTORY   OF  THE  SPANISH   WAR 

PREPARED  FROM  OFFICIAL  GOVERNMENT   REPORTS  OF  OUR  ARMY  AND  NAVY  OFFICERS, 
PRESENTING  ALL  THE  FACTS  FOR  THE  FIRST  TIME 

THE    HISTORY    OF    CUBA,    PORTO    RICO, 
The  Ladrone  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands 

FROM  THEIR  DISCOVERY  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME 


RICHLY   EMBELLISHED   WITH    OVER    ONE    HUNDRED    FULL    PAGE 
HALF-TONE    AND    OTHER    ENGRAVINGS 


PUBLISHED  BY 

WORLD  BIBLE  HOUSE 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


COPYRIGHT,  1899 

BY 
WM.    K.    SCULL 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


EVERY  CHAPTER  IN  THIS  VOLUME  BEING  ORIGINAL  MATTlfcR  PREPARED  EXPRESSLY 
FOR  THIS  WORK,  ALL  PERSONS  ARE  WARNED  NOT  TO  INFRINGE  UPON  OUR  COPYRIGHT  BY 
USCVG  EITHER  THK  MATTKR  OR  THE  PICTURES,  WITHOUT  EXPRESS  PERMISSION. 


M 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  whole  world  has  turned  its  eyes  upon  the  Philippine  Islands. 
The  nations  of  Europe  and  of  the  far  East  are  anxiously 
watching  their  future.  The  United  States  stands  with  that 
future  in  its  possession.  Our  country  has  made  itself  more  vital 
than  ever  before  in  the  great  brotherhood  of  nations. 

The  magnificent  victory  of  Admiral  Dewey  in  the  Bay  of  Manila, 
when  he  scorned  hidden  torpedoes  and  open  foes,  and  swept  the  ves 
sels  of  Montojo's  fleet  from  the  face  of  the  waters  without  the  loss  of 
a  single  man  or  any  considerable  damage  to  his  own  battleships,  not 
only  brought  our  nation  to  the  very  forefront  as  a  naval  power,  but 
focused  upon  the  Philippines  the  eyes  of  all  the  world. 

Previous  to  that  time  nobody  knew  or  cared  where  the  distant 
archipelago  was.  To-day  there  is  not  a  schoolboy  who  cannot  tell 
you,  or  a  street  urchin  who  does  not  speak  its  name  as  familiarly 
almost  as  that  of  his  own  city. 

Necessarily,  however,  popular  knowledge  of  the  islands  is  ex 
tremely  limited.  Most  persons  have  read  in  snatches  here  and  there, 
of  Aguinaldo,  of  the  insurgents,  of  the  famous  battle  of  May  ist,  of 
General  Merritt,  General  Otis,  General  McArthur  and  the  brave  lot 
of  soldiers,  volunteers  and  regulars,  who  have  crossed  the  10,000 
miles  of  sea,  which  leads  to  this  our  new  possession. 

THE    PURPOSE    OF    THIS    VOLGME. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to  present  a  clear,  concise,  inter 
esting  and  readable  story  of  the  conquest  of  the  Philippines  and  of 
our  other  island  possessions. 

Now  that  the  smoke  of  battle  has  cleared  away  and  we  are  able 
to  see  more  distinctly  the  splendid  work  of  American  arms,  the  valor 
of  the  American  soldiers,  the  generalship  of  the  American  leaders, 


543 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

and  the  wise  direction  of  American  statesmanship,  we  are  ready  and 
anxious  to  know  not  only  the  story  of  our  march  of  victory,  but  also 
something  about  the  new  lands  and  the  new  people,  which  have  come 
under  the  folds  of  the  flag,  and  which  from  now  on  are  likely  to  be  so 
prominent  in  the  scheme  of  our  national  life. 

Ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  an  elaborate,  careful  collec 
tion  has  been  made  of  all  books,  newspaper  and  magazine  articles, 
published  both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  about  the  Philippines  and 
about  the  events  which  have  taken  place  there  since  our  troops  landed 
on  those  shores.  These  have  been  at  the  disposal  of  the  writer,  and 
their  very  possession  alone  insures  the  most  complete  record  of  the 
history  of  the  Philippines  possible. 

This  volume  aims  to  bring  you  in  contact  with  the  people  of 
these  islands  so  vividly  that  you  will  know  their  past  and  their  present, 
and  become  so  interested  in  their  future,  that  every  word  spoken  for 
or  against  them  will  enlist  your  attention. 

LONG    STRUGGLE    FOR    LIBERTY. 

As  a  people  the  Filipinos  appeal  to  the  American  heart  through 
their  long  years  of  struggle  for  liberty, — a  struggle  that  has  been 
marked  throughout  by  a  trail  of  life-blood  of  patriots,- -a  struggle 
that  has  been  waged  against  unequal  odds, — a  struggle  that  was 
once,  years  ago,  at  the  verge  of  successful  issue,  but  was  brought 
to  naught  at  the  very  hour  of  victory,  by  an  accident. 

As  a  nation  the  Filipinos  are  not  strong  enough  to  protect  them 
selves  alone  against  the  governments  of  the  world.  The  United  States 
took  them  under  its  protection.  It  offered  to  them  liberty  and  civi 
lization  under  its  rule.  Unhappily  for  them  the  insurgent  leaders, 
whether  for  motives  of  personal  gain,  or  from  ill-advised  sentiments 
against  their  protectors,  have  turned  upon  the  hand  that  helped  them. 

The  battle  which  was  so  costly,  both  to  insurgents  and  to  our 
own  gallant  soldiers,  has  made  it  impossible  for  the  United  States  to 
£0  back.  The  demands  of  civilization  hold  us  to  the  islands.  Presi 
dent  McKinley  in  his  speech  at  Boston  in  February,  1899,  summed 
up  the  situation  and  the  duty  of  the  Government  as  follows : 

"The  future  of  the  Philippine  Islands  are  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  American  people,  and  the  Paris  Treaty  commits  the  free  and 


1  .EAR-ADMIRAI,  JOHN  CRITTENDEN  WATSON.  REAR-ADMIRAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT  SCHLEY. 

LEADING  COMMANDERS  OF  OUR   NAVV   IN  THE  SPAN  ISH  •  A  M  ER  1C  AN   WAR. 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

through  Spanish  cruelty,  tin*  new  race  of  Cubans,  the  feeble  insurrec 
tion  of  a  hundred  years,  the  more  virile  Ten  Years'  War,  and,  finally, 
the  War  of  1895,  that  last  great  struggle  for  liberty,  reads  like  a 
romance.  And  at  last  the  terrible  oppression  and  cruelty  of  Spain 
brought  forth  such  an  agonizing  cry  for  help,  that  America  could  no 
longer  resist  its  appeal,  and  "  for  the  sake  of  humanity  "  took  up  arms 
in  her  behalf. 

The  campaign  in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  was  a  brilliant  one.  It 
was  short,  decisive,  heroic.  The  deeds  that  were  clone,  and  the  vic 
tories  that  were  won,  rival  the  greatest  stories  of  valor  that  the  world 
has  ever  heard.  And  now  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  are  ours, — one  tem 
porarily,  the  other  forever.  Porto  Rico,  which  Columbus  discovered 
and  where  he  was  buried,  will  be  familiar  in  the  future  to  all  the  world 
as  a  winter  resort.  Beautiful,  fertile  and  healthful,  it  will  ever  be  a 
land  of  romance  and  of  pleasure  and  of  poetry.  Hawaii,  too,  brought 
by  the  new  cable  in  touch  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  will  be  a  part  of 
us  from  this  time  onward.  Their  interests  and  our  interests  mingle. 
It  is  of  them,  and  of  Hawaii,  "  the  Paradise  of  the  Pacific,"  that  a 
fuller  knowledge  is  desired  by  all  persons.  And  so  in  this  history  of 
our  conquest  of  the  Philippines  and  our  other  island  possessions, 
they  play  an  important  part,  and  enlist  your  interest. 

ALDEN  MARCH. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
The  Philippines — Past  and  Present 

A  Rapid  Review  of  History,  Place  and  People. — The  Story  of  Discovery. — The  First 
World  Girdlers. — Another  Expedition.  —  Naming  the  Islands. — Struggles  for 
Supremacy.  —  English  Take  Manila.  —  Uprisings  of  the  Natives. — The  Last 
Struggle  for  Liberty. — A  Warlike  People.— Manila  and  other  Towns. — Industries, 
Climate,  Etc. — Admiral  Dewey  begins  a  New  Era. 

CHAPTER  II 

Behind  Admiral  Dewey's  Guns 

The  Magnificent  Naval  Battle  of  May  ist  Described  by  an  Officer  who  stood  by 
Dewey  during  the  Fight. — The  Personal  Side  of  the  Nation's  Greatest  Hero. 
— A  Brush  with  German  Officers. — The  Surrender  of  Cavite. 


CHAPTER  III 
The  Second  Battle  of  Manila 

How  8,000  American  Soldiers  Swept  into  a  Heavily  Entrenched  City,  Garrisoned  by 
Nearly  Twice  that  Number  of  Spaniards. — Insurgent  Army  Kept  from  Plunder. 
— Rare  Bravery  and  Sacrifice. — What  Major-General  Wesley  Merritt,  Command 
ing  the  Expedition,  General  Frank  F.  Greene,  General  Arthur  McArthur  and 
General  Thomas  Anderson  Said  Officially  of  the  Battle. 


CHAPTER    IV 
The  Trouble  with  General  Aguinaldo 

A  Face-to-Face  View  of  the  Insurgent  Leader. — A  Man  of  Craft  and  Cunning. — His 
Rapid  Rise  to  Prominence. — Sold  Out  His  Own  People. — The  Battle  Against  the 
United  States. — Insurgents  Swept  Into  the  Sea. — Sacrifice  of  Life  and  Property. 
— The  Flight  of  Agoncillo  to  Canada.  — The  Battle  and  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in 
the  Senate, — The  Oregon  Needed  "for  Political  Reasons," 

xiii 


xiv  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Men  Who  Won  Fame  in  Battle 

Commanders  and  Soldiers  whose  Bravery  lias  Brought  them  Special  Honors. — Intrepid 
Fighting.  Mad  Dashes,  and  Fierce  Firing  of  Boys  from  Pennsylvania,  New  York 
aii' I  other  States  of  the  Kast  ;  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  the  Rest  of  the 
South  Line;  and  the  Heroic  Warriors  from  Oregon,  California,  Dakota,  Kansas, 
Iowa  and  the  Middle  and  Far  West.  —  Individual  Deeds  of  Daring. — Scout  Work 
Outside  and  Inside  of  the  City. 

CHAPTER  VI 
A  Past  History  Written  in  Blood 

Fvcr  Since  their  Discovery  the  Philippines  have  been  the  Scene  of  Terrible  Conflicts. 
—Began  with  an  Alliance  of  Peace,  but  soon  were  Rife  with  War.  —  Lcgaspi  Forti 
fied  Manila  and  made  it  a  Stronghold. — The  Raid  of  Limahong,  the  Chinese 
Pirate. —  A  Naval  Battle  with  the  Dutch  for  Half  a  Century. — England  Takes 
Manila,  but  Returns  It  to  Spain. 

CHAPTER  VII 

•<^ 

Filipinos'  Struggles  for  Freedom 

Periodically  the  Natives  Turned  under  the  Cruel  Spanish  Heel  and  Rose  up  in  their 
Might. — Revolts  against  the  Tyranny  of  the  Church. — How  a  Flight  of  Sky 
rockets  once  Tore  Victory  from  the  Hands  of  the  Natives. — The  Last  Fight  for 
Freedom. — The  Greatest  of  Insurgent  Martyrs,  Doctor  Rizal. — His  Dramatic 
Execution  a  Few  Years  Ago. — Other  Fighters  for  Freedom. 

CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Great  Value  of  the  Philippines 

Why  all  Nations  Covet  what  the  United  States  has  Won. — Importance  from  a  Strategic 
Standpoint. — Immense  Wealth  and  Resources. — Exports  and  Imports  Amount  to 
over  $40,000,000. — Rich  in  Sugar,  Rice,  Hemp,  Coffee,  Cocoa,  Spices  and  a 
Host  of  other  Things. — Untold  and  Untried  Mineral  Wealth. 

CHAPTER  IX 
The  People  of  the  Island 

Over  Flighty  Different  Tribes,  most  of  whom  have  never  seen  a  White  Man. Inter 
esting  Traits  in  the  Character  of  the  Natives. — Cannibalism  in  all  of  its  Horrors. 
Cock  Fighting  as  a  Pastime. — How  the  Better  Class  Live. — Educational  and 
Social  Conditions. — Something  about  the  A  etas,  Negritos,  Gadanes,  Itavis,  Igor- 
rotes,  Pinguianes  and  others, 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


xv 


CHAPTER  X 

Fascinations  and  Terrors  of  a  New  Land 

The  Awful  Wildness  of  Typhoons. — A  Land  Ruled  by  Volcanoes. — Thousands  Killed 
by  Earthquakes. — All  Business  Suspended  until  Evening,  owing  to  the  Heat. — A 
Glimpse  of  its  Birds,  Beasts  and  Reptiles. 

CHAPTER  XI 
Manila,  the  Metropolis  of  the  Philippines 

A  Delightful  City  which  may  become  a  Resort  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. — High  and 
Low  Life. — Foreigners  kept  out  by  the  Spanish  as  much  as  Possible. — The 
Chinese  Class. — The  Splendid  Big  Convent. — Shops  that  Delight  the  Eye. — Rare 
Fabrics  Woven  from  Plants  and  Embroidered  by  Nuns. — A  New  York  Officer's 
Big  Purchase.— A  Dress  that  it  took  Months  to  Weave.—  Inside  of  the  English 
Club. — Americans  have  Started  a  Splendid  Club  for  the  Army  and  Navy. — The 
Famous  Mestiza  Girls. 

CHAPTER  XII 
Other  Important  Cities  of  the  Islands 

A  Sight-seeing  Trip  to  Iloilo,  Second  in  Commercial  Importance  to  Manila,  Cebu, 
which  once  outranked  it,  Leyte  and  other  Places  of  Importance. — Scenes  and 
Incidents  among  the  Strange  Population. — The  Terrible  Sultan  of  Sulu.  —Super 
stitions  of  the  Moros. — Funny  Episodes  of  a  very  Lively  Trip. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Future  of  the  Islands 

How  they  will  Develop  under  the  Care  of  the  United  States. — The  Treaty  of  Peace 
at  Paris  and  its  Effect. — What  President  McKinley  says  about  the  Situation. 
—Extracts  from  his  Famous  Speeches  on  the  Subject. — The  views  of  Anti-Expan 
sionists. — Extracts  from  Speeches  made  by  Senators  and  Representatives.— 
Freedom  and  Prosperity  in  Sight  for  the  Long  Misgoverned  Islands. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Ladrone  Islands 

The  Bloodless  Battle  of  Guam. — When  the  Charleston  Opened  Fire  on  the  Little  City 
of  Agafia,  the  Governor  Thought  we  were  Saluting  Him. — A  Population  which 
has  Twice  Disappeared. — Poverty  and  Laziness  on  all  Sides. — The  Value  of  the 

Island  as  a  Military  Station, 


xvi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XV 
The  Hawaiian  Islands,  "the  Paradise  of  the  Pacific" 

Annexed  to  the  United  States  by  Act  of  Congress,  July  7,  1898. — Truly  a  Paradise  in 
Climate,  Fertility  and  Healthfulness. — Discovery  by  Captain  Cook. — Something 
about    the    Inhabitants. — Old    Times    in    Hawaii. — A    Pen    Sketch    of    Queen 
Liliuokalani,  the  Last  of  the  Royal  Line. — The  Revolution  of  1893. — The  Plea 
for  Admission  to  the  United  States. — The  Mission  of  Senator  Blount. — The  Work  I 
of  American  Missionaries. — Some    Hawaiian    Superstitions  and    Amusements. —  I 
Products  and  Commerce. — Sugar  is  to  the  Islands  what  Wheat  is  to  our  Northwest,  j 
—Honolulu,   the    Capital  City. — A    Beautiful   and   Delightful    Resort. — On    the  j 
Threshold  of  a  great  Industrial  Era. 

CHAPTER  XVI 

Cuba,  "the  Child  of  Our  Adoption" 

The  Island  whose  Cry  to  Humanity  Brought  the  War  of  Relief. — How  It  Received  its 
Name. — The  Founding  of  the  Capital,  Havana. — A  Terrible  History  of  Spanish' 
Cruelty. — The  Extermination  of  a  Great  People,  Beginning  in  the  Time  of  the- 
Son  of  Columbus,  before  1560  the  Whole  of  the  Population  had  Disappeared) 
from  the  Island. — The  First  Cuban  Revolt. — The  Capture  of  Havana  by  the)  f 
English. — Its  Restoration  to  Spain. — A  Long  Series  of  Insurrections. — The) 
Seven  Years'  War. — The  Last  and  Final  Uprising. — The  Advent  of  Weyler,  "the 
Butcher." — Atrocities  before  which  the  whole  World  Stood  Aghast. — His  Motto 
was  "Subjugation  or  Death." — American  Filibusters  Lend  a  Helping  Hand. 
The  Death  of  General  Maceo,  through  Treachery,  a  great  Blow  to  the  Insurgents. 
—Weyler  and  the  Reconcentrados. — Two  Hundred  Thousand  Men,  Women  and 
Children  Die  of  Disease  and  Starvation. — Insurgents  the  Masters  of  almost  the 
whole  Island. — The  Fearful  Cost  of  the  War. — The  Cuban  Debt  Reached 
Nearly  $300,000,000. 

CHAPTER  XVII 
Possibilities  of  the  Island 

Its  Possibilities,  its  Hopes. — The  Extent  of  the  Island,  its  Soil  and  its  vast  Products. 
Rich  in  Sugar,   in    Timber    and    in  Minerals,   it   is    a    Place    Promising  Wealth,  -. 
Rivaling  that  of  the   Klondike. — Its   Commerce  and  its  Climate. — Havana,  the     1 
Capital  City,  and  other  Ports. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Explosion  of  the  Maine,  and  War 

The  Awful  Catastrophe  to  our  Battleship  in  Havana  Harbor.     A  firm  Belief  that  the    ,  1 
Vessel  was  Blown  up  by  Spaniards,— A  Naval  Board  of  Inquiry. — A  Wave  of    1 


x  o 
c  •*> 


trs  n  ~ 
c  ~.a  8 
2-'»  g§ 


,—4    L*»    »—   ^ 

So-cr1^ 

^H^s;- 


SK-S-S' 

.c£.S9 


ir"2 

S"  n  3 


s?r 

""H 


I 


S 


1 


1  • 


It; 


1 


<5     v 


o 


I  5  3| 

I    Z    o| 

|  Ml 

loll 

I    UJ   %  rt 

I     !£3  0i 


u 


s  t> 

rt  u 

1  8 


.   .2 

O    J3 

Pi 

2  3 

^     Jj 


s 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xix 

Feeling  Sweeps  the  whole  Nation. — McKinley  Places  the  Matter  before  Congress. 
—War  is  Declared,  for  the  Sake  of  Humanity. — The  First  Call  for  Troops. — All 
the  States  of  the  Union  Respond  Immediately  with  their  Quota  of  Men. — The 
Mobilization  of  the  American  Army. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Campaign  in  Cuba 

close  Blockade  Established  at  Havana  Harbor. — The  First  Shot  of  the  War. — The 
Buena  Ventura  Captured  as  the  Initial  Prize  of  the  Conflict. — Ensign  Worth 
Bagley,  of  the  Torpedo  Boat  Winslow,  Killed,  the  First  Death  of  the  War.— 
Admiral  Cervera's  Fleet  Leaves  Spain  for  the  Cape  Verde  Islands. — A  Period  of 
Search  and  Apprehension. — The  Spanish  Vessels  Reach  Santiago. — Commodore 
Schley  Bottles  up  the  Fleet  in  Santiago  Harbor.  —  "I've  got  them  and  they  will 
never  get  out  alive." — Sampson  takes  Charge  of  the  Blockade. — Lieutenant 
Hobson's  Daring  Deed  of  Heroism. — The  Brilliant  Young  Naval  Officer  Sinks 
the  Merrimac  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Harbor  so  as  to  Prevent  the  Enemy  from 
Coming  Out. — Afloat  on  a  Raft  Amid  the  Shells  of  Spanish  Forts  and  Cruisers.— 
Taken  Prisoner  and  Landed  in  Morro  Castle. — The  American  Vessels  Shelled  the 
Castle,  although  the  Captured  Men  were  Exposed  by  the  Spaniards  to  the  Deadly 
Fire. — The  Magnificent  Naval  Battle  of  July  3d. — The  Capture  of  Admiral 
Cervera  and  the  total  Annihilation  of  the  Spanish  Fleet. 


CHAPTEPv  XX 
The  Invasion  of  Cuba  by  the  Army 

General  Shafter  Starts  from  Tampa  with  Transports. — The  Shutting  up  of  the  Spanish 
Fleet  Changes  the  Campaign  from  Havana  to  Santiago. — The  Landing  of  Troops 
at  Baiquiri. — The  Brilliant  Charge  of  the  "Rough  Riders"  under  Colonel  Wood 
and  "Teddy"  Roosevelt. — Marvelous  Bravery  at  El  Caney  and  San  Juan  Hill. 
The  Small  American  Force  though  Handicapped  on  all  Sides  Wins  Victory  from 
the  Better  Armed  and  Better  Protected  Spaniards  by  Sheer  Bravery,  and  the  Mad 
Rush  of  their  Battle. — Terrible  and  Costly  Hours  of  Waiting. — Shafter  111  in  the 
Rear,  Generals  Wheeler,  Lawton,  Chaffee,  Colonels  Wood  and  "Teddy" 
Roosevelt  Lead  the  Men  to  a  Marvelous  Victory. — The  Second  Day's  Fight. 
—The  Spanish  Flag  of  Truce. — Consultation  for  Surrender. — General  Miles, 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  Joins  Shafter,  and  Takes  Part  in  the 
Negotiations. — General  Toral  Surrenders,  after  the  Destruction  of  Cervera's 
Fleet. — Hobson  and  His  Fellow  Heroes  Exchanged. — A  Rousing  Reception 
from  the  Troops. 


xx  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXI 
The  Surrender  of  Santiago 

Truce  Proclaimed  and  Prolonged  from  Day  to  Day. — Consultation  for  Surrender  of 
Santiago. — General  Miles,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  Joins  Shatter  and 
Takes  Part  in  the  Negotiations. — General  Toral  Surrenders. — Terms  of  Evacua 
tion. — Raising  the  Stars  and  Stripes  Above  the  City. — Hobson  and  His  Fellow- 
Heroes  Exchanged. — A  Rousing  Reception  Ly  Land  and  Sea. 

CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Campaign  in  Porto  Rico 

General  Miles'  Plans  for  the  Invasion  of  the  Island. — Preliminary  Operations  by 
Sampson's  Fleet. — Bombardment  of  San  Juan  de  Porto  Rico. — Miles  in  Charge 
of  the  Army  Expedition. — Troops  Meet  with  but  Little  Resistance. — Capture  of 
Towns,  and  Movements  of  the  Army.  — The  First  Steps  Toward  Peace  in  Wash 
ington. — As  the  Guns  of  Pennsylvania  Troops  were  Being  Placed  in  Position  for 
a  Battle,  Word  Came  from  Washington,  Announcing  that  Fighting  Must  Cease. — 
The  Last  Scenes  and  Shots  of  the  War. 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

Porto  Rico — Past,  Present  and  Future 

The  Island  and  its  Population. — Its  Future  as  a  Winter  Resort. — Timber  in  Abundance 
and  Variety. — Minerals  and  Mining. — Some  Facts  About  its  Commerce. — The 
Chief  Cities  and  Towns  of  Porto  Rico. 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
The  Heroes  of  1898  and  1899 

Something  About  the  Men  Who  Led  Our  Forces  on  to  the  Great  Victories  Achieved 
by  American  Arms. — Sketches  of  Dewey,  Sampson,  Schley,  Bob  Evans,  Captain 
Clarke,  Captain  Gridley,  Lieutenant  Hobson  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Wain- 
wright,  Who  Won  Fame  at  Sea,  and  Generals  Miles,  Shafter,  Wheeler,  Lawton, 
and  Colonel  Roosevelt,  Who  Made  History  in  Cuba,  and  Generals  Merritt,  Otis 
and  MacArthur, 

CHAPTER  XXV 
The  Closing  Events  of  the  Philippine  War 

A  Proclamation  by  the  Commissioners  from  the  United  States. — Dagupan  Bom 
barded. — General  Montenegro,  One  of  the  Great  Insurgent  Leaders,  Killed, — 
Lawton' s  Flying  Column  Sweeps  Down  Upon  the  Province  of  Laguna. — Santa 
Cruz  Captured. — Lumban  and  Pagsangan  Also  Fall  Before  the  American  Troops. 
— Lawton's  Expedition  Recalled. — MacArthur's  Men  Gloriously  Storm  Calumpit's 
Trenches. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Map  of  the  Philippines.    Frontispiece, 
Map,  Hawaiian  Islands.    Frontispiece. 
In  the  War  Room  at  Washington,    .       7 
Leading  Commanders  of  our  Navy 
in  the   Spanish-American  War,    .       8 

The  ''Oregon," 17 

The  Battle  of  Manila,  May  i,  1898,      18 
Typical  Group  of  Negritos,  Philip 
pine  Islands, 29 

Volcano  Mayon  in  Luzon,  ....  30 
Church  of  Cavite,  Philippine  Islands,  30 
Native  Boats  and  Outriggers  ...  39 
A  Bend  in  the  Pasig  River,  Manila,  40 

The  Escolta,  Manila, 49 

The    Barracks    at   Corregidor  After 

Spanish  Withdrawal, 50 

Commandante's  House,  Cavite,  .         50 
Raising   the   Flag  on  Fort  San  An 
tonio  de  Abad,  Malate,     ....     59 
The     Beautiful     Luneta,     Manila's 
„  Fashionable       Promenade       and 

T  Drive, 60 

A  Street  Scene  in  Albay, 69 

Sacloban,  Island  of  Leyte,  ....  70 
Pampanga,  a  Village  in  the  Sugar 

Country, 70 

First  Battle  Between  Americans  and 

Filipinos,  February  4  and  5,  1899,      79 
General    Aguinaldo    in     February, 

1899,   .    -' 80 

View  Along   the  Escolta  After  the 
Last  Great  Fire.  80 


The  Harbor  and  City  of  Cebu, 
Puebla,  in  the  Lake  of  Bay, 


90 
90 


Insurgents'  Attempt  to  Burn  Manila, 

February  22,  1899, 99 

Cafe  and  Chocolate  Factory,  Manila,    100 
Interior  View  of  a  Cigar  and  Ciga 
rette  Factory,  Manilla, 100 

Blockhouse  Taken  by  the  Astor  Bat 
tery  in    Their  Famous   Revolver 

Charge, 109 

Convent  at  Malate  Showing  Effect 

of  Shells, no 

The  Philippine  Pony  and  Cart,  .  .no 
Saint  Ana,  a  Suburb  of  Manila,  .  .119 
The  Cordage  Factory  of  Santa  Mesa, 

a  Suburb  of  Manila, 120 

The  Famous  Spanish  Prison,  Manila,  1 20 
A  Market  Man  in  Manila,  .  .  .  .129 
Fast  Freight  of  the  Philippines,  .  .130 
Cockfightmg,  the  Chief  Sport  of  the 

Natives, ...   130 

The  Shipyards  and  Arsenal  at  Cavite,  139 
The  Island  of  Corregidor,  Manila 

Bay, 140 

Native  Water  Carriers  in  Iloilo,  .  .165 
A  Native  Filipino  Woman,  .  .  .  .166 
A  Spanish  Filipino  Mestiza,  .  .  .  .166 
The  Mouth  of  the  Pasig  River,  .  .175 
Young  Man  of  the  Upper  Class, 

Philippine  Islands, 176 

Aguinaldo  at  the  Age  of  22,     .    .    .176 

Doing  the  Family  Wash, 176 

Native  Woman  Fruit  Seller,  .  .  .  .176 
Death  by  the  Garrote,  Method  of 

Execution  in  Manila, 185 

Savage  Negrito  Warriors,  .  .  .  .  .  186 
Tagalog  Tribe, 186 

(XXI) 


XX11 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Native  Residence  in  the  Suburbs 

of  Manila, 195 

The  Strange  Wagons  of  Albay,     .    .195 
Iloilo,    Capital   of  the    Province  of 

Panay, 196 

A  Native  Mining  Camp  in  Luzon,  .221 
A     Popular     Street     Conveyance, 

Manila, 222 

Drying  Sugar,   Philippine  Islands,  .222 
Bridge  Over  the  Pasig  River,    .    .    .231 

A  Wedding  Procession, 231 

All-Chinese-Shop    Quarter    on    the 

Rosario, 232 

Milkmen  of  Manila  at  their  Dairy,  .  241 
View  in  Banca,  Showing  Dutch  For 
tifications,     242 

The  Native  Farmer  and  His  Faithful 

Servant, 242 

Spaniards       Executing       Insurgent 

Chiefs,   Manila, 251 

Senor  Montero  Rios,    President   of 

the  Spanish  Peace  Commission,    .  252 
General    Ramon    Blanco,    Captain- 
General  of  Cuba, 252 

Admiral  Cervera, 252 

Sagasta,  Premier  of  Spain,    .    .    .    .252 

Royal  Palace,  Hawaii, 277 

Raising  the  American  Flag  in  Hono 
lulu,  August  12,  1898, 277 

Church     in      Honolulu,     Hawaiian 

Islands, 278 

Sugar    Cane    Plantation,    Hawaiian 

Islands,     • 278 

Map  of  Cuba, 282 

Entrance    to    the  Public    Grounds, 

Havana,  Cuba, 287 

Indian  Statue  in  the  Prado,  Havana, 

Cuba, 287 

General  Antonio  Maceo, 288 

General  Calixto  Garcia, 288 

General  Maximo  Gomez, 288 

Jose  Marti,  President  of  the  Cuban 
Revolutionary  Party, 288 


The  Rough  Riders  Driving  Back  the 
Spaniards,  Previous  to  the  Attack 

on  Santiago, 313 

Major-General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  .  .  314 
Major-General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  .  .  .314 
Major-General  Wesley  Merritt,  .  .314 
Major -General  William  R.  Shafter,  .  314 
Spaniards  Repelling  the  Attack  of 

Cuban  Insurgents, 323 

United  States  Battleship  ''Maine,"    324 

Captain  Sigsbee,     .    .    • 324 

Officers  of  the  "Maine/'  ....  324 
The  Peace  Commissioners,  .  .  .  .333 
The  Fleet  of  Admiral  Cervera  at 

Cape  Verde  Islands, 334 

President    McKmley  and    the  War 

Cabinet,   ....,..,..,  343 
Americans  Storming  San  Juan  Hill,    344 
City  of  Havana  and  Harbor,  Show 
ing  Wreck  of  the  "Maine,"     .    .  369 

General  Joseph  Wheeler, 370 

Lieutenant  Richmond  Pearson  Hob 

son,  . 37° 

Governor  Theodore  Roosevelt,  .  .370 
Major- General  Elvvell  S.  Otis,  .  .  .370 

Havana  Harbor, 379 

Landing  at  Tampa, 379 

Camp  Scene  at  Chicamauga,     .    .    .37 
The  Surrender  of  Santiago,  July  17, 

1899, 380 

The    Market    Place,    Ponce,    Porto 

Rico, 42 1 

The  Custom  House,   Ponce,   Porto 

Rico, 421 

Native  Belles,  Porto  Rico,  .  .  .  .422 
Hula  Dancing  Girls,  Hawaii,  .  .  .422 
Sunrise  Executions,  Outside  the 

Prison  Walls,   Havana, 431 

A  Market  Girl,  Porto  Rico,   .  .    .    .431 
A  Volante,  the  Typical  Cuban  Con 
veyance, 431 

San  Juan,  Porto  Rico, 432 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Philippines— Past  and  Present 

A  Rapid  Review  of  History,  Place  and  People. — The  Story  of  Discovery. — The  First 
World  Girdlers. — Another  Expedition. — Naming  the  Islands. — Struggles  for 
Supremacy. — English  take  Manila. — Uprisings  of  the  Natives. — The  Last  Struggle 
for  Liberty. — A  Warlike  People. — Manila  and  other  Towns. — Industries,  Climate, 
Etc. — Admiral  Dewey  begins  a  New  Era. 

THE  most  important,  and  by  far  the  most  interesting,  as  well  as 
the  least  known  of  America's  new  possessions,  gained  by  her 
war  with  Spain,   are  the  Philippine   Islands.      Comparatively 
few  Americans    have    ever   set    foot    upon  that    far-away  and    semi- 
civilized  land,  the  possession  of  which  enables  America  to  say  with 
England,  "  The  sun  never  sets  upon  our  flag." 

The  Philippines  lie  almost  exactly  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe 
from  us.  Approximately  speaking,  our  noonday  is  their  midnight ; 
our  sunset  is  their  sunrise.  There  are  some  1,800  of  these  islands, 
400  of  which  are  inhabited  or  capable  of  supporting  a  population  ; 
they  cover  about  125,000  square  miles;  they  lie  in  the  tropical  seas, 
generally  speaking,  from  five  to  eighteen  degrees  north  latitude;  and 
are  bounded  by  the  China  Sea  on  the  west  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  on 
the  east ;  they  are  about  7,000  miles  southwest  from  San  Francisco, 
a  little  over  600  miles  southeast  from  Hong  Kong,  China,  and  about 
i, ooo  miles  almost  due  north  from  Australia;  they  contain  between 
8,000,000  and  10,000,600  inhabitants,  about  one-third  of  whom  had 
prior  to  Dewey's  victory,  May  i,  1898,  acknowledged  Spanish 
sovereignty  to  the  extent  of  paying  regular  tribute  to  the  Spanish 
crown;  the  remainder  are  bound  together  in  tribes  under  independent 
native  princes  or  Mohammedan  rulers.  Perhaps  2,500,000  all  told 
have  become  nominal  Catholics  in  religion.  The  rest  are  Moham 
medans  and  idolaters.  There  are  no  Protestant  churches  in  the 
islands. 

THE    STORY    OF    DISCOVERY. 

It  was  twenty-nine  years  after  Columbus  discovered  America 
that  Magellan  saw  the  Philippines,  the  largest  archipelago  in  the 

2  (-'5) 


26  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

world,  in  1521.  The  voyage  of  Magellan  was  much  longer  and 
scarcely  less  heroic  than  that  of  the  discoverer  of  America.  Having 
been  provided  with  a  fleet  by  the  Spanish  king  with  which  to  search 
for  spice  islands,  but  secretly  determined  to  sail  round  the  world,  he 
set  out  with  five  vessels  on  August  10,  1519,  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
America,  and  skirted  the  eastern  coast  southward  in  the  hope  of  find 
ing  some  western  passage  into  the  Pacific,  which,  a  few  years  previous 
had  been  discovered  by  Balboa.  It  was  a  year  and  two  months  to  a 
day  from  the  time  he  left  Spain  until  he  reached  the  southern  point 
of  the  mainland  of  South  America  and  passed  through  the  straight 
which  has  since  borne  his  name.  On  the  way,  one  of  his  vessels  de 
serted  ;  another  was  wrecked  in  a  storm.  When  he  passed  through 
the  Straight  of  Magellan  he  had  remaining  but  three  of  his  original 
five  ships,  and  they  were  the  first  European  vessels  that  ever  breasted 
the  waves  of  the  mighty  western  ocean.  Once  upon  the  unknown 
but  placid  sea — which  he  named  the  Pacific — the  bold  navigator 
steered  straight  to  the  northwest.  Five  months  later,  about  March 
ist,  he  discovered  the  Ladrone  Islands — which  name  Magellan  gave 
to  the  group  on  account  of  the  thieving  propensities  of  the  natives 
— the  word  Ladrone  meaning  robber. 

After  a  short  stay  at  the  islands,  he  steered  southwest,  landing 
on  the  north  coast  of  Mindanao,  the  second  largest  island  of  the 
Philippines.  The  natives  were  friendly  and  offered  to  pilot  Magellan 
to  the  Island  of  Cebu,  which  lay  to  the  north,  and  which  they  reported 
to  be  very  rich.  After  taking  possession  of  Mindanao  in  the  name 
of  his  king,  the  discoverer  proceeded  to  Cebu,  where  he  gave  such 
descriptions  of  the  glory  and  power  of  Spain  that  he  easily  formed  a 
treaty  with  the  king  of  the  island,  who  swore  allegiance  to  his  new 
found  master  and  had  himself  and  chief  advisers  baptized  in  the 
Catholic  faith.  Magellan  then  joined  the  king  in  his  war  against 
some  of  the  neighboring  powers,  and  on  April  25,  1521,  was  killed  in 
a  skirmish.  The  spot  where  he  fell  is  now  marked  by  a  monument. 

FIRST    CIRCUMNAVIGATION    OF    THE    GLOBE. 

Trouble  soon  arose  between  Magellan's  sailors  and  their  new 
found  allies.  The  Spaniards  were  invited  to  a  banquet,  and  twenty- 
seven  of  them  were  treacherously  slain.  The  remainder,  fearing  for 


SECOND  EXPEDITION  TO  THE  PHILIPPINES  2; 

their  lives,  escaped  in  their  ships  and  sailed  for  home.  It  was  soon 
discovered  that  they  had  too  few  men  to  manage  the  three  vessels, 
and  one  of  them  was  destroyed.  The  other  two  proceeded  on  their 
voyage  and  discovered  the  spice  island  of  Tidor,  where  they  loaded 
with  spices  ;  but  a  few  days  later  one  of  the  vessels  sprang  a  leak  and 
went  clown  with  her  freight  and  crew.  The  other,  after  many  hard 
ships,  reached  Spain,  thus  completing  the  first  circumnavigation  of 
the  globe. 

SECOND    EXPEDITION    TO    THE    PHILIPPINES. 

I*1  X555»  Philip  II.  came  to  the  Spanish  throne  and  determined 
to  send  another  expedition  to  the  East  Indies.  His  religious  zeal 
inspired  him  to  conquer  and  christianize  the  islands.  To  shorten  the 
long  and  dangerous  voyage,  he  decided  to  prepare  and  start  with  five 
ships  from  the  coast  of  Mexico.  Miguel  Lopez  de  Legaspi  led  the 
expedition,  consisting  of  four  hundred  soldiers  and  sailors  and  six 
Augustine  monks.  In  due  time  the  expedition  landed  at  Cebu.  The 
formidable  appearance  of  the  ships  awed  the  natives,  and  on  April 
27>  :5^5 — forty  years  after  Magellan's  remnant  had  fled  from  the 
island — Legaspi  landed  and  took  possession.  In  honor  of  the  Spanish 
king  the  archipelago  was  given  the  name  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 

In  1570  Legaspi  sent  his  grandson,  Salcedo,  to  subdue  the  island 
of  Luzon,  the  northernmost  and  the  largest  of  the  Philippine  group. 
He  landed  near  the  present  site  of  Manila.  The  trustful  natives 
readily  agreed  to  accept  the  Spanish  king  as  their  master,  and  to  pay 
tribute.  Such  slight  tribal  resistances  as  were  offered  were  quickly 
subdued.  The  next  year  Legaspi  went  to  Manila  to  visit  his  grand 
son  ;  and,  seeing  the  importance  of  the  situation  and  its  fine  harbor, 
declared  that  city  the  capital  of  the  whole  archipelago,  and  the  king 
of  Spain  the  sovereign  of  all  the  islands.  Accordingly,  he  moved 
his  headquarters  to  that  point,  built  houses  and  fortifications,  and 
within  a  year  had  the  city  well  organized,  when  he  died,  leaving 
Salcedo  as  his  successor  in  command.  It  is  remarkable  how  much 
these  two  men  accomplished  with  so  small  a  force ;  but  they  did  not 
so  much  by  arms  as  by  cajoling  and  deceiving  the  simple  natives. 
Furthermore,  they  allowed  the  conquered  people  to  be  governed  by 
their  own  chiefs  in*  their  own  way,  so  long  as  they  paid  a  liberal 
tribute  to  the  Spanish  crown. 


28  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  history  of  the  Philippines  has  been  monotonous  from  their, 
discovery  until  the  present,  a  monotony  broken  at  times  by  periods 
of  adventures  in  which  Manila  has  generally  been  the  central  scene. 

STRUGGLES    FOR    SUPREMACY. 

About  1580,  Limahong  a  Chinese  pirate,  took  the  .city  with  an 
armed  fleet  of  sixty-two  vessels,  bearing  4,000  men  and  1,500  women. 
The  met  with  stubborn  resistance,  but  succeeded  in  scaling  the  walls 
and  entering  the  city.  The  Spanish  forces  were  driven  into  a  fort, 
which  the  Chinese  stormed.  A  bloody  hand-to-hand  conflict  fol 
lowed,  and  the  Chinese  were  finally  repulsed. 

Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  Dutch  attempted  to  obtain 
possession  of  the  Philippines.  They  captured  scores  of  Spanish 
merchantmen  and  treasure  ships.  Many  naval  engagements  followed, 
the  details  of  which  read  like  the  thrilling  records  of  buccaneers  and 
pirates,  rather  than  the  wars  between  two  civil  powers.  Finally,  after 
half  a  century  of  warfare,  the  Dutch  were  decisively  beaten,  and 
abandoned  their  efforts  to  capture  the  Spanish  islands,  much  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  Filipinos,  for  the  islands  of  Java,  Sumatra  and 
other  Dutch  possessions  to  the  south  of  the  Philippines  have  been 
remarkably  prosperous  under  the  mild  rule  of  the  Netherlands. 

MANILA    TAKEN    BY    THE    ENGLISH. 

In  1662,  the  Chinese  planned  a  revolution  against  the  Spanish 
authorities.  The  governor  heard  of  it,  and  a  general  massacre  of 
the  Mongolians  followed.  It  was  even  planned  to  destroy  every 
Chinaman  on  the  islands,  and  they  were  in  a  fair  way  to  do  it,  when, 
at  length,  the  Spaniards  bethought  themselves  that  by  so  doing  they 
would  practically  depopulate  the  islands  of  tradesmen  and  mechanics. 
Accordingly,  they  offered  pardon  to  those  who  would  surrender  and 
swear  allegiance.  In  the  same  year,  England  sent  a  fleet  under 
Admiral  Cornish,  with  General  Draper  commanding  the  troops, 
against  Manila.  After  a  desperate  battle  the  city  fell,  and  the  terms 
of  surrender  incorporated  provisions  for  free  trade,  freedom  of  speech, 
and,  best  of  all,  freedom  in  religion  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands, 
and  required  Spain  to  pay  England  about  $4,000,000  indemnity.  By 
the  Peace  of  Paris,  in  1763,  however,  the  war  between  England  and 


VOLCANO   "MAYON,"   IN  THE   HEMP-PRODUCING   DISTRICT  OF  LUZON. 

This  is  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  volcano  in  the  world.     It  is  8,233  f"eet  high,  its  shape  is  a  perfect  cone  and  its  crest  is 

always  fiery.    It  has  indulged  in  several  destructive  eruptions.    In  1814  many  houses  were  destroyed  and  2500 

people  were  killed  and  wounded.     At  its  base  are  famous  hot  springs  of  greit  medicinal  virtue. 


CHURCH   OF  CAVITE. 

It  was  in  this  church  that  many  devout  Catholics  took  refuge  when  Admiral  Dewey  was  bombarding  the  forts  and 

Spanish  forces  at  Cavite. 


UPRISING  OF  THE  NATIVES  3» 

Spain  was  terminated,  and  one  of  the  conditions  was  that  Spain 
should  retain  the  sovereignty  of  the  Philippines.  The  English  troops 
were  withdrawn,  and  the  unfortunate  islands  were  again  placed  (as 
Cuba  was  by  the  same  treaty)  under  the  domination  of  their  tyran 
nical  mistress,  and  remained  under  Spanish  rule  from  that  time  until 
the  Americans  freed  them  in  1898. 

UPRISING    OF    THE    NATIVES. 

In  nearly  all  the  uprisings  of  the  natives,  the  tyranny  of  the 
Church,  as  conducted  by  the  friars  and  priests,  was  the  cause.  Such 
was  the  case  in  1622,  in  1649  an<^  m  !66o.  The  occasion  of  the 
revolt  of  1744  is  a  fair  example  of  the  provocations  leading  to  all. 
A  Jesuit  priest  ordered  all  his  parishioners  arrested  as  criminals  when 
they  failed  to  attend  mass.  One  of  the  unfortunates  died,  and  the 
priests  denied  him  rights  of  burial,  ordering  that  his  body  be  thrown 
upon  the  ground  and  left  to  rot  in  the  sun  before  his  dwelling.  The 
brother  of  the  man  in  his  exasperation  organized  a  mob,  captured 
the  priest,  killed  him,  and  exposed  his  body  for  four  days.  Thus  was 
formed  the  nucleus  of  a  rebel  army.  The  insurgents  in  their 
mountain  fastnesses  gained  their  independence  and  maintained  it  for 
thirty-five  years,  until  they  secured  from  Spain  a  promise  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuit  priests  from  the  colony. 

Other  revolutions  followed  in  1823,  1827  and  1844,  but  all  were 
suppressed.  In  1842,  the  most  formidable  outbreak  up  to  that  time 
occurred  at  Cavite.  Hatred  of  the  Spanish  friars  was  the  cause  of 
this  uprising  also.  Spain  had  promised  in  the  Council  of  Trent  to 
prohibit  friars  from  holding  parishes.  The  promises  were  never 
carried  out,  and  the  friars  grew  continually  richer  and  more  powerful 
and  oppressive.  Had  the  plan  of  the  insurgents  not  been  balked  by 
a  mistaken  signal,  no  doubt  they  would  have  destroyed  the  Spanish 
garrison  at  Manila,  but  a  misunderstanding  caused  their  defeat.  The 
friars  insisted  that  the  captured  leaders  should  be  executed,  and  it 
was  done. 

THE    LATEST    STRUGGLE    FOR    LIBERTY. 

In  1896,  the  insurrection  broke  out  again.  Its  causes  were  the 
old  oppressions  :  unbearable  taxes,  and  imprisonment  or  banishment, 
with  the  complete  confiscation  of  property  of  those  who  could  not 


3  2  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESEN7 

pay;  no  justice  except  for  those  who  could  buy  it;  extortion  by  the 
friars  ;  marriage  ceremony  so  costly  that  a  poor  man  could  not  pay 
the  fee  ;  homes  and  families  broken  up  and  ruined  ;  burial  refused  to 
the  dead,  unless  a  large  sum  was  paid  in  advance  ;  no  provision  and 
no  chance  for  education.  Such  were  some  of  the  causes  that  again 
goaded  the  natives  to  revolution  and  nerved  them  with  courage  to 
achieve  victory  after  victory  over  their  enemies  until  they  were 
promised  most  of  the  reforms  which  they  demanded.  Then  they 
laid  down  their  arms,  and,  as  usual,  the  Governor-General  failed  to 
carry  out  a  single  pledge. 

Such  was  the  condition,  and  another  revolt,  more  formidable 
than  any  of  the  past,  was  forming,  when  Commodore  Dewey  with  his 
American  fleet  entered  Manila  Bay,  May  i,  1898,  and  by  a  victory 
unparalleled  in  naval  warfare,  sunk  the  Spanish  ships,  silenced  the 
forts,  and  dethroned  the  power  of  Spain  forever  in  a  land  which  her 
tyranny  had  blighted  for  more  than  three  hundred  years. 

THE    PEOPLE THEIR    MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

It  is  impossible  within  the  scope  of  this  article  to  give  details 
concerning  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  far-away  archipelago.  Professor 
Worcester,  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  tells  us  that  the  popula 
tion  comprises  more  than  eighty  distinct  tribes,  with  individual  peculi 
arities.  They  are  scattered  over  hundreds  of  islands,  and  one  who 
really  wants  to  know  these  peoples  must  leave  cities  and  towns  far 
behind,  and,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  through  pathless  forests,  amid 
volcanic  mountains,  at  the  mercy  of  savages,  penetrate  to  the  inner 
most  wilds.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  for  hundreds  of  years  bold 
men,  led  by  the  love  of  science  or  by  the  spirit  of  adventure,  have 
continued  to  penetrate  these  dark  regions,  there  are  many  sections 
where  the  foot  of  civilized  man  has  never  trocl  ;  or,  if  so,  he  came  not 
back  to  tell  of  the  lands  and  peoples  which  his  eyes  beheld. 

DIFFICULTIES    OF    EXPLORING    THE    COUNTRY. 

There  have  been  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  thorough 
exploration  of  these  islands.  Spain  persistently  opposed  the  repre 
sentatives  of  any  other  nation  entering  the  country.  She  suspected 
every  man,  with  a  gun,  of  designing  to  raise  an  insurrection  or  make 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  EXPLORING  THE  COUNTRY.  33 

mischief  among  the  natives.  The  account  of  red  tape  necessary  to 
secure  guns  and  ammunition  for  a  little  party  of  four  or  five  explorers 
admitted  through  the  customs  at  Manila  is  one  of  the  most  signifi 
cant,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  humorous,  passages  in  Professor 
Worcester's  story  of  his  several  years'  sojourn  while  exploring  the 
archipelago. 

In  the  second  place,  the  savage  tribes  in  the  interior  had  no  re 
spect  for  Spain's  authority,  and  will  have  none  for  ours  for  years  to 
come.  Two-thirds  of  them  paid  no  tribute,  and  many  of  them  never 
heard  of  Spain,  or,  if  so,  only  remembered  that  a  long  time  ago  white 
men  came  and  cruelly  persecuted  the  natives  along  the  shore.  These 
wild  tribes  think  themselves  still  the  owners  of  the  land.  Some  of  them 
go  naked  and  practice  cannibalism  and  other  horrible  savage  customs. 
Any  explorer's  life  is  in  danger  among  them  ;  consequently  most 
tourists  to  the  Philippines  see  Manila  and  make  short  excursions 
around  that  city.  The  more  ambitious  run  down  to  the  cities  of  Iloilo 
and  Cebu,  making  short  excursions  into  the  country  from  those 
points,  and  then  return,  thinking  they  have  seen  the  Philippines. 
Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  Such  travelers  no  more 
see  the  Philippine  Islands  than  Columbus  explored  America. 

Even  near  the  coast  there  are  savages  who  are  almost  as  igno 
rant  as  their  brethren  in  the  interior.  Mr.  Stevens  tells  us  that  only 
;<  thirty  miles  from  Manila  is  a  race  of  dwarfs  that  go  without  clothes, 
wear  knee-bracelets  of  horsehair,  and  respect  nothing  but  the  jungle 
in  which  they  live."  The  principal  native  peoples  are  of  Malayan 
origin.  Of  these,  to  the  north  of  Manila  are  the  Igorrotes,  to  the 
south  of  Manila  are  the  semi-civilized  Visayas,  and  below  them  in 
Mindanao  and  the  Sulu  Archipelago  are  the  fierce  Moros,  who 
originally  came  from  the  island  of  Borneo,  settling  in  the  Philippines 
a  short  time  before  the  Spanish  discovery.  They  are  Mohammedans 
in  religion,  and  as  fanatical  and  as  fearless  fighters  as  the  Turks 
themselves.  For  three  hundred  years  the  Spaniards  have  been 
fighting  these  savages,  and  while  they  have  overcome  them  in  nearly 
all  the  coast  towns,  they  have  expended,  it  is  said,  upward  of  $100,- 
oc 0,000  and  sacrificed  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  lives  in 
doing  so. 


34  THE  PHILIPPINES—PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  fierce  Moro  warriors  keep  the  Spanish  settlers  along  their 
coasts  in  a  constant  state  of  alarm,  and  the  visitor  to  the  towns  feels 
as  if  he  were  at  an  Indian  outpost  in  early  American  history,  because 
of  the  constant  state  of  apprehension  that  prevails.  Fortunately, 
however,  the  Moros  along  the  coast  have  learned  to  distinguish 
between  the  Spaniard  and  the  Englishman  or  American,  and  through 
them  the  generosity  of  \\\e  Englese,  as  they  call  all  Anglo-Saxons,  has 
spread  to  their  brethren  in  the  interior.  Therefore,  American  and 
English  explorers  have  been  enabled  to  go  into  sections  where  the 
Spanish  friars  and  monks,  who  have  been  practically  the  only  Spanish 
explorers,  would  meet  with  certain  death.  The  Mohammedan  fanati 
cism  of  the  Moros,  and  that  of  the  Catholic  friars  and  Jesuits,  abso 
lutely  refuse  compromise. 

The  Negritos  (little  Negroes)  and  the  Mangyans  are  the  princi 
pal  representatives  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  before  the  Malayan 
tribes  came.  There  are  supposed  to  be,  collectively,  almost  1,000,000 
of  them,  and  they  are  almost  as  destitute  of  clothing  and  as  uncivil 
ized  as  the  savages  whom  Columbus  found  in  America,  and  far  more 
degenerate  and  loathsome  in  habits. 

THE    CITY    OF    MANILA. 

The  Island  of  Luzon,  on  which  the  city  of  Manila  stands,  is 
about  as  large  as  the  State  of  New  York,  its  area  being  variously 
estimated  at  from  43,000  to  47,000  square  miles.  It  is  the  largest 
island  in  the  Philippine  group,  comprising  perhaps  one-third  of  the 
area  of  the  entire  archipelago.  Its  inhabitants  are  the  most  civilized, 
and  its  territory  the  most  thoroughly  explored.  The  city  of  Manila 
is  the  metropolis  of  the  Philippines.  The  population  of  the  city 
proper  and  its  environs  is  considered  to  be  some  300,000  souls,  of 
whom  200,000  are  natives,  40,000  full-blooded  Chinese,  50,000 
Chinese  half-castes,  5,000  Spanish,  mostly  soldiers,  4,000  Spanish  half- 
castes  and  300  white  foreigners  other  than  Spaniards.  Mr.  Joseph 
Earle  Stevens,  already  referred  to,  who  represented  the  only  Ameri 
can  firm  in  the  city  of  Manila,  under  Spanish  rule  (which  finally  had 
to  turn  its  business  over  to  the  English  and  leave  the  island  a  few 
years  since),  informs  us  that  he  and  three  others  were  the  only  repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  in  Manila  as  late  as  1893. 


EARTHQUAKES  AND  TYPHOONS  35 

The  city  is  built  on  a  beautiful  bay  from  twenty-five  to  thirty 
miles  across,  and  on  both  shores  of  the  Pasig  River.  On  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  going  up  from  the  bay,  is  the  old  walled  town,  and 
around  the  walls  are  the  weedy  moats  or  ditches.  The  heavy  guns 
and  frowning  cannon  from  the  walls  suggest  a  troubled  past.  ThL 
old  city  is  built  in  triangular  form,  about  a  mile  on  each  side,  and  is 
regarded  as  very  unhealthful,  for  the  walls  both  keep  out  the  breeze 
and  keep  in  the  foul  air  and  odors.  The  principal  buildings  in  the 
old  part  of  the  city  are  the  cathedral,  many  parish  churches,  a  few 
schoolhouses  and  the  official  buildings.  The  population  in  the  walled 
city  is  given  at  20,000.  Up  to  a  few  years  ago,  no  foreigner  was  per 
mitted  to  sleep  within  its  walls  on  account  of  the  Spaniards'  fear  of 
a  conspiracy.  A  bridge  across  the  Pasig  connects  old  Manila  with 
the  new  or  unwalled  city,  where  nearly  all  of  the  business  is  done  and 
the  native  and  foreign  residents  live.  This  section  of  the  city  is 
known  as  Binondo  and  its  chief  street  is  the  Escolta. 

EARTHQUAKES  AND  TYPHOONS. 

It  does  not  take  one  long  to  exhaust  the  sights  of  Manila,  if  the 
people,  who  are  always  interesting,  are  excepted.  Aside  from  the 
cathedral  and  a  few  of  the  churches,  the  buildings  of  the  city  are 
anything  but  imposing.  In  fact,  there  is  little  encouragement  to  con 
struct  fine  edifices  because  of  the  danger  from  earthquakes  and 
typhoons.  It  is  said  that  not  a  year  passes  without  a  number  of 
slight  earthquake  shocks,  and  very  serious  ones  have  occurred.  In 
1645  nearly  all  of  the  public  buildings  were  wrecked  and  600  persons 
killed.  A  very  destructive  earthquake  was  that  of  1863,  when  400 
people  were  killed,  2,000  wounded  and  46  public  buildings  and  1,100 
private  houses  were  badly  injured  or  completely  destroyed.  In  1874 
earthquakes  were  again  very  numerous  throughout  the  islands, 
shocks  being  felt  at  intervals  in  certain  sections  for  several  weeks. 
But  the  most  violent  convulsion  of  modern  times  occurred  in  1880, 
when  even  greater  destruction  than  in  1863  visited  Manila  and  other 
towns  of  Luzon.  Consequently  there  are  very  few  buildings  to  be 
found  more  than  two  stories  high  ;  and  the  heavy  tile  roofs  formerly 
in  use  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  replaced  by  lighter  coverings  of 
galvanized  iron. 


36  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

These  light  roofs,  however,  are  in  constant  danger  of  being 
stripped  off  by  the  typhoons,  terrible  storms  which  come  with  a  twist 
ing  motion  as  if  rising  from  the  earth  or  the  sea,  fairly  pulling  every 
thing  detachable  with  them.  Masts  of  ships  and  roofs  of  houses  are 
frequently  carried  by  these  hurricanes  miles  distant.  The  better  to 
resist  the  typhoons,  most  of  the  light  native  houses  are  built  on 
bamboo  poles,  which  allow  the  wind  to  pass  freely  under  them,  and 
sway  and  bend  in  the  storm  like  a  tree  ;  whereas,  if  they  were  set 
solidly  on  the  earth,  they  would  be  lifted  up  bodily  and  carried  away. 
Glass  windows  being  too  frail  to  resist  the  shaking  of  the  earthquakes 
and  the  typhoons,  small,  translucent  oyster  shells  are  used  instead.  The 
light  thus  admitted  resembles  that  passing  through  ground  glass,  or, 
rather,  stained  glass,  for  the  coloring  in  the  shells  imparts  a  mellow 
tinted  radiance  like  the  windows  of  a  cathedral. 

MANILA    AS    A    BUSINESS    CENTER. 

The  streets  of  Manila  are  wretchedly  paved  or  not  paved  at  all, 
and,  as  late  as  1893,  were  lighted  by  kerosene  lamps  or  by  wicks  sus 
pended  in  dishes  of  cocoanut  oil.  Lately  an  electric  plant  has  been 
introduced,  and  parts  of  the  city  are  lighted  in  this  manner.  There 
are  two  lines  of  street  cars  in  Manila.  The  motive  power  for  a  car  is 
a  single  small  pony,  and  foreigners  marvel  to  see  one  of  those  little 
animals  drawing  thirty-odd  people. 

The  retail  trade  and  petty  banking  of  Manila  is  almost  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  the  half-castes  and  Chinese,  and  many  of  them  have 
grown  immensely  wealthy.  There  are  only  about  three  hundred 
Europeans  in  business  in  the  whole  Philippine  group,  and  they  con 
duct  the  bulk  of  the  importing  and  exporting  trade.  Manila  contains 
a  number  of  large  cigarette  factories,  two  of  which  employ  4,000  and 
one  10,000  hands.  There  is  also  a  sugar  refinery,  a  steam  rice  mill, 
and  a  rope  factory  worked  partly  by  men  and  partly  by  oxen,  a  Spanish 
brewery  and  a  German  cement  factory,  a  Swiss  umbrella  factory  and 
a  Swiss  hat  factory.  The  single  cotton  mill,  in  which  $200,000  of 
English  capital  is  invested,  runs  6,000  spindles. 

The  statistics  of  1897  show  that  the  whole  trade  of  Manilla  com 
prised  only  forty-five  Spanish,  nineteen  German,  and  seventeen  Eng 
lish  firms,  with  six  Swiss  brokers  and  two  French  storekeepers  having 


GENERAL  COMMERCE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES  37 

large  establishments.  One  of  the  most  profitable  businesses  is  said 
to  be  that  of  selling  cheap  jewelry  to  the  natives.  Breastpins  which 
dealers  buy  in  Europe  for  twelve  cents  each  are  readily  sold  for  from 
$1.50  to  $2.00  each  to  the  simple  Filipinos.  Almost  everything 
that  is  manufactured  abroad  has  a  fine  prospective  market  in  the 
Philippines,  when  the  condition  of  the  people  permits  them  to  buy. 

A  certain  charm  attaches  to  many  specimens  of  native  handi 
work.  The  women  weave  exquisitely  beautiful  fabrics  from  the  fiber 
of  plants.  The  floors  of  Manila  houses  are  admired  by  all  foreigners. 
They  are  made  of  hard  wood  and  polished  with  banana  leaves  and 
greasy  cloths  until  they  shine  brightly  and  give  a  cool  airiness  to  the 
room. 

Any  kind  of  amusement  is  popular  with  the  Filipinos — with  so 
much  leisure  on  their  hands — provided  it  does  not  require  too  great 
exertion  on  their  part.  They  are  fond  of  the  theatre,  and,  up  to  a 
few  years  ago,  bullfighting  was  a  favorite  pastime  ;  but  the  most 
prominent  of  modern  amusements  for  ^e  natives  and  half  castes  is 
cockfighting.  It  is  said  that  every  native  has  his  fighting  cock, 
which  is  reared  and  trained  with  the  greatest  care  until  he  shows 
sufficient  skill  to  entitle  him  to  an  entrance  into  the  public  cockpit 
where  he  will  fight  for  a  prize.  The  chickens  occupy  the  family 
residence,  roosting  overhead  ;  and,  in  case  of  fire,  it  is  said  that  the 
game  "  rooster "  is  saved  before  the  babies.  Professor  Worcester 
tells  an  amusing  story  of  the  annoyance  of  the  crowing  cocks  above 
his  head  in  the  morning  and  the  devices  and  tricks  he  and  his  com 
panions  employed  to  quiet  them.  The  Manila  lottery  is  another  in 
stitution  which  intensely  excites  the  sluggish  native,  and  takes  from 
him  the  money  which  he  does  not  lose  on  the  cockfights.  Under  the 
United  States  Government  this  lottery  will,  no  doubt,  be  abolished 
in  time.  It  formerly  belonged  to  the  Spanish  Government,  and 
Spain  derived  an  annual  profit  of  half  a  million  dollars  from  it. 

GENERAL   COMMERCE    OF    THF    PHILIPPINES. 

It  is  hardly  necessary,  so  far  as  the  commercial  world  is  con 
cerned,  to  mention  any  other  locality  outside  of  the  city  of  Manila.  To 
commerce,  this  city  (whose  total  imports  in  1897,  were  only  $10,000,- 
ooo,  and  its  exports  $20,000000)  is  the  Philippine  I^ands.  Its 


38  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

present  meagre  foreign  trade  represents  only  an  average  purchase  of 
about  one  dollar  per  inhabitant,  and  an  average  sale  of  two  dollars 
per  inhabitant  for  the  largest  archipelago  in  the  world,  and  one  of 
the  richest  in  soil  and  natural  resources.  The  bulk  of  these  exports 
was  hemp,  sugar,  and  tobacco;  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the 
United  States  received  41  per  cent,  of  her  hemp  and  55  per  cent,  of 
her  sugar  for  the  year  1897,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  we  had  not 
one  commercial  firm  doing  business  in  that  whole  vast  domain. 

The  city  of  Iloilo  is  on  the  southern  coast  of  the  fertile  island  of 
Panay,  and,  next  to  Manila,  the  chief  port  of  the  Philippines.  It  has 
an  excellent  harbor,  and  the  surrounding  country  is  very  productive, 
having  extensive  plantations  of  sugar,  rice  and  tobacco.  The  popu 
lation  of  Iloilo  is  only  12,000,  but  there  are  a  few  larger  towns  in  the 
district,  of -which  it  is  the  seaport.  Though  the  city  at  springtides  is 
covered  with  water,  it  is  said  to  be  a  very  healthful  place,  and  much 
cooler  than  Manila. 

The  other  open  port,  Cebu,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  island  of 
the  same  name,  is  a  well-built  town,  and  has  a  population  of  about 
13,000.  From  this  point  the  bulk  of  the  hemp  for  export  comes. 

GENERAL     CHARACTER    OF    THE    ISLANDS. 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  of  the  other  islands  in  detail.  Seven  of 
the  group  average  larger  than  the  State  of  New  Jersey  ;  Luzon  is  as 
extensive  as  Ohio,  Mindanao  equals' I ndiana  ;  and,  as  we  have  stated 
before,  about  four  hundred  of  the  islands  are  inhabitable,  and,  like 
Java,  Borneo,  and  the  Spice  Islands,  all  are  rich  in  natural  resources, 
They  are  of  a  volcanic  origin,  and  may  be  described  in  general  as 
rugged  and  mountainous.  The  coasts  of  most  of  the  islands  are 
deeply  indented  by  the  sea,  and  the  larger  ones  are  well  watered  by 
streams,  the  mouths  of  which  afford  good  harbors.  Many  of  the 
mountainous  parts  abound  in  minerals.  Mr.  Karuph,  President  of 
the  Philippine  Mineral  Syndicate,  in  May,  1898,  addressed  a  letter  to 
Hon.  John  Hay,  at  that  time  our  ambassador  to  England,  in  which 
he  declares  that  the  Philippines  will  soon  come  prominently  forward 
as  a  new  center  of  the  world's  gold  production.  "  There  is  not  a 
brook,"  said  Mr.  Karuph,  "  that  finds  its  way  into  the  Pacific  Ocean 
whose  sands  and  gravel  do  not  pan  the  color  of  gold.  Many  valuable 


FORESTS  AND  TIMBER  41 

deposits  are  close  to  deep  water.  I  know  of  no  other  part  of  the 
world,  the  Alaskan  Treadwell  mines  alone  excepted,  where  pay  ore  is 
found  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  anchorage  of  sea-going  ves 
sels."  In  addition  to  gold,  iron,  copper,  lead,  sulphur,  and  other  min 
erals  are  found,  and  are  believed  to  exist  in  paying  quantities.  The 
numerous  mineral  springs  attest  their  presence  in  almost  every  part 
of  the  principal  islands. 

FORESTS    AND    TIMBER. 

The  forest  products  of  the  islands  are  perhaps  of  greater  value 
than  their  mineral  resources.  Timber  not  only  exists  in  almost 
exhaustless  quantity,  but — considering  the  whole  group,  which  extends 
nearly  a  thousand  miles  from  north  to  south — in  unprecedented  diver 
sity,  embracing  sixty  varieties  of  the  most  valuable  woods,  several  of 
which  are  so  hard  that  they  cannot  be  cut  with  ordinary  saws,  some 
so  heavy  that  they  sink  in  water,  and  two  or  three  so  durable  as  to 
afford  ground  for  the  claim  that  they  outlast  iron  and  steel  when 
placed  in  the  ground  or  under  water.  Several  of  these  woods  are 
unknown  elsewhere,  and,  altogether,  they  are  admirably  suited  for 
various  decorative  purposes  and  for  the  manufacture  of  fine  imple 
ments  and  furniture. 

Here  also  are  pepper,  cinnamon,  wax,  and  gums  of  various  sorts, 
cloves,  tea,  and  vanilla,  while  all  tropical  fruits,  such  as  cocoanuts, 
bananas,  lemons,  limes,  oranges  of  several  varieties,  pineapples, 
citrons,  bread-fruits,  custard  apples,  pawpaws,  and  mangroves  flourish 
and  most  of  them  grow  wild,  though,  of  course,  they  are  not  equal  to 
the  cultivated  fruit.  There  are  fifty  odd  varieties  of  the  banana  in 
the  archipelago,  from  the  midget,  which  makes  but  a  single  mouthful, 
to  the  huge  fruit  eighteen  inches  long.  There  seems  to  be  no  limit 
to  which  tropical  fruits  and  farm  products  can  be  cultivated. 

The  animal  and  bird  life  of  the  Philippines  offer  a  field  of  inter 
esting  research  to  naturalists.  There  are  no  important  carnivorous 
animals.  A  small  wild  cat  and  two  species  of  civet  cats  constitute 
about  all  that  belong  to  that  class.  The  house  cats  of  the  Philippines 
have  curious  fishhook  crooks  in  the  ends  of  their  tails.  There  are  sev 
eral  species  of  deer  in  the  archipelago.  Hogs  run  wild  in  large  numbers. 
The  large  water  buffalo  (rar^bao)  has  been  domesticated  and  is  the 


42  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

chief  beast  of  burden  with  the  natives.  The  timarau  is  another 
small  species  of  buffalo,  very  wild  and  entirely  untamable  ;  and,  though 
numerous  in  certain  places,  is  hard  to  find,  and  when  brought  to  bay 
dies  fighting. 

Birds  abound  in  all  of  the  islands  ;  nearly  six  hundred  species  have 
been  found,  over  fifty  of  which  exist  nowhere  else  in  the  world.  One 
of  these  species  builds  a  nest  which  is  highly  prized  by  Chinese  epi 
cures  as  an  article  of  diet.  Prof.  Worcester  tells  us  "the  best  quality 
of  them  sometimes  bring  more  than  their  weight  in  gold."  Crocodiles 
are  numerous  in  fresh-water  lakes  and  streams,  attaining  enormous 
size,  and  in  certain  places  causing  much  loss  of  life  among  stock  and 
men  as  well.  Snakes  also  abound,  and  some  of  them  are  very  .venom 
ous.  Cobras  are  found  in  the  southern  islands.  Pythons  are  numer 
ous,  some  of  the  smaller  sizes  being  sold  in  the  towns  and  kept  in 
houses  to  catch  rats,  at  which  they  are  said  to  be  more  expert  than 
house  cats. 

All  the  domestic  animals,  aside  from  the  carabao,  have  been  intro 
duced  from  abroad.  Cattle  are  extensively  raised,  and  in  some  of  the 
islands  run  wild.  The  horses  are  a  small  Spanish  breed,  but  are  very 
strong  and  have  great  endurance.  Large  European  horses  do  not 
stand  the  climate  well. 

CLIMATE,  VOLCANOES,  ETC. 

The  mean  annual  temperature  of  Manila  is  80  degrees  F.  The 
thermometer  seldom  rises  above  100  degrees  or  falls  below  60  degrees 
anywhere  in  the  archipelago.  There  is  no  month  in  the  year  during 
which  it  does  not  rise  as  high  as  91  degrees.  January  and  December 
are  the  coldest  months,  the  average  temperature  being  70  to  73  de 
grees.  May  is  the  warmest,  the  average  being  84  degrees.  April  is 
the  next  warmest,  with  an  average  of  83  degrees  ;  but  the  weather  is 
generally  very  moist  and  humid,  which  makes  the  heat  more  trying. 
The  three  winter  months  have  cool  nights.  Malaria  is  prevalent,  but 
contagious  diseases  are  comparatively  few.  Yellow  fever  and  cholera 
are  seldom  heard  of. 

The  Philippines  are  the  home  of  many  volcanoes,  a  number  of 
them  still  active.  Mayon,  in  the  island  of  Luzon,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  volcanic  mountains  on  the  globe.  It  is  a  perfect  cone. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  MANILA  43 

rising  to  the  height  of  8,900  feet,  and  is  in  constant  activity ;  its  latest 
destructive  eruption  took  place  in  1888.  Apo,  in  the  island  of  Min 
danao,  10,312  feet  high,  is  the  largest  of  the  Philippine  volcanoes. 
Next  is  Canloon  in  Negros,  which  rises  8,192  feet  above  the  sea. 
Taal  is  in  a  lake,  with  a  height  of  900  feet,  and  is  noteworthy  as  being 
the  lowest  volcano  in  the  world.  To  those  not  accustomed  to  vol 
canoes,  these  great  fire-spouting  mountains,  which  are  but  prominent 
representatives  of  many  lesser  ones  in  the  islands,  seem  to  be  an  ever- 
present  danger  to  the  inhabitants ;  but  the  natives  and  those  who  live 
there  manifest  little  or  no  fear  of  them.  In  fact,  they  rather  pride 
themselves  in  their  possession  of  such  terrifying  neighbors. 

Such  is  an  outline  view  of  the  Philippine  Archipelago  of  the 
present  day.  A  new  era  has  opened  up  in  the  history  of  that  wonder 
ful  land  with  its  liberation  from  the  Spanish  yoke.  The  dense  igno 
rance  and  semi-savage  barbarities  which  exist  there  must  not  be 
expected  to  yield  too  rapidly  to  the  touch  of  human  kindness  and 
brotherly  love  with  which  the  Christian  world  will  now  visit  those 
semi-civilized  and  untamed  children  of  nature.  Nevertheless,  western 
civilization  and  western  progress  will  undoubtedly  work  mighty 
changes  in  the  lives  of  those  people,  in  the  development  of  that  coun 
try,  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  twentieth  century,  which  ushers  in 
the  dawn  of  its  freedom. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    MANILA. 

In  all  the  annals  of  naval  warfare  there  is  no  engagement,  termi 
nating  in  so  signal  a  victory  with  so  little  damage  to  the  victors,  as 
that  which  made  the  name  of  George  Dewey  immortal  on  the  memor 
able  Sunday  morning  of  May  i,  1898,  in  Manila  Bay.  The  world 
knows  the  story  of  that  battle,  for  it  has  been  told  hundreds  of  times 
in  the  thousands  of  newspapers  and  magazines  and  scores  of  books 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  But  few,  perhaps,  who  peruse  these 
pages  have  read  the  simple  details  of  the  fight  as  narrated  by  that 
most  modest  of  men,  Admiral  Dewey  himself.  We  cannot  better 
close  this  chapter  on  the  Philippines  than  by  inserting  Admiral 
Dewey's  official  report  of  the  battle  which  wrested  the  Filipinos  from 
Spanish  tyranny  and  placed  nearly  ten  millions  of  oppressed  people 
under  the  protecting  care  of  the  United  States. 


44  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  STORY  OF  MANILA. 

"UNITED  STATES  FLAGSHIP  OLYMPIA,  CAVITE,  May  4,  1898. 

"The  squadron  left  Mirs  Bay  on  April  27th,  arrived  off  Bolinao 
on  the  morning  of  April  3Oth,  and,  finding  no  vessels  there,  proceeded 
clown  the  coast  and  arrived  off  the  entrance  to  Manila  Bay  on  the 
same  afternoon.  The  Boston  and  the  Concord  were  sent  to  recon 
noitre  Port  Subic.  A  thorough  search  was  made  of  the  port  by  the 
Boston  and  the  Concord,  but  the  Spanish  fleet  was  not  found. 
Entered  the  south  channel  at  11.30  P.M.,  steaming  in  column  at  eight 
knots.  After  half  the  squadron  had  passed,  a  battery  on  the  south 
side  of  the  channel  opened  fire,  none  of  the  shots  taking  effect.  The 
Boston  and  McCulloch  returned  the  fire.  The  squadron  proceeded 
across  the  bay  at  slow  speed  and  arrived  off  Manila  at  daybreak,  and 
was  fired  upon  at  5.15  A.M.  by  three  batteries  at  Manila  and  two  near 
Cavite,  and  by  the  Spanish  fleet  anchored  in  an  approximately  east 
and  west  line  across  the  mouth  of  Bakor  Bay,  with  their  left  in  shoal 
water  in  Canacao  Bay. 

"  The  squadron  then  proceeded  to  the  attack,  the  flagship  Olympia, 
under  my  personal  direction,  leading,  followed  at  a  distance  by  the 
Baltimore,  Raleigh,  Petrel,  Concord  and  Boston  in  the  order  named, 
which  formation  was  maintained  throughout  the  action.  The  squad 
ron  opened  fire  at  5.41  A.M.  While  advancing  to  the  attack,  two  mines 
were  exploded  ahead  of  the  flagship,  too  far  to  be  effective.  The 
squadron  maintained  a  continuous  and  precise  fire  at  ranges  varying 
from  5,000  to  2,000  yards,  countermarching  in  a  line  approximately 
parallel  to  that  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  The  enemy's  fire  was  vigorous, 
but  generally  ineffective.  Early  in  the  engagement  two  launches  put 
out  toward  the  Olympia  with  the  apparent  intention  of  using  torpe 
does.  One  was  sunk  and  the  other  disabled  by  our  fire  and  beached 
before  they  were  able  to  fire  their  torpedoes. 

"At  7  A.M.  the  Spanish  flagship  Reina  Christina  made  a  desperate 
attempt  to  leave  the  line  and  come  out  to  engage  at  short  range,  but 
was  received  with  such  a  galling  fire,  the  entire  battery  of  the  Olympia 
being  concentrated  upon  her,  that  she  was  barely  able  to  return  to  the 
shelter  of  the  point.  The  fires  started  in  her  by  our  shells  at  the  time 
were  not  extinguished  until  she  sank.  The  three  batteries  at  Manila 
had  kept  up  a  continuous  fire  from  the  beginning  of  the  engagement, 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  STORY  OF  THE  BATTLE  45 

which  fire  was  not  returned  by  my  squadron.  The  first  of  these  batter 
ies  was  situated  on  the  south  mole-head  at  the  entrance  of  the  Pasig 
River,  the  second  on  the  south  position  of  the  walled  city  of  Manila, 
and  the  third  at  Malate,  about  one-half  mile  further  south.  At  this 
point  I  sent  a  message  to  the  Governor-General  to  the  effect  that  if 
the  batteries  did  not  cease  firing  the  city  would  be  shelled.  This  had 
the  effect  of  silencing  them. 

"  At  7.35  A.M.  I  ceased  firing  and  withdrew  the  squadron  for 
breakfast.  At  11.16  I  returned  to  the  attack.  By  this  time  the 
Spanish  flagship  and  almost  all  the  Spanish  fleet  were  in  flames.  At 
12.30  the  squadron  ceased  firing,  the  batteries  being  silenced  and  the 
ships  sunk,  burned  and  deserted. 

"At  12.40  the  squadron  returned  and  anchored  off  Manila,  the 
Petrel  being  left  behind  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  smaller 
gunboats,  which  were  behind  the  point  of  Cavite.  This  duty  was 
performed  by  Commander  E.  P.  Wood  in  the  most  expeditious  and 
complete  manner  possible.  The  Spanish  lost  the  following  vessels : 
Sunk,  Reina  Christina,  Bastilla,  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa ;  burned,  Don 
Juan  de  Austria,  Isla  de  Luzon,  Isla  de  Cuba,  General  Lezo,  Marquis 
del  Duero,  El  Correo,  Velasco,  and  Isla  de  Mindanao  (transport) ; 
captured,  Rapido  and  Hercules  (tugs),  and  several  small  launches. 

"  I  am  unable  to  obtain  complete  accounts  of  the  enemy's  killed  and 
wounded,  but  believe  their  losses  to  be  very  heavy.  The  Reina  Chris 
tina  alone  had  150  killed,  including  the  captain,  and  ninety  wounded. 
I  am  happy  to  report  that  the  damage  done  to  the  squadron  under 
my  command  was  inconsiderable.  There  were  none  killed,  and  only 
seven  in  the  squadron  were  slightly  wounded.  Several  of  the  vessels 
were  struck  and  even  penetrated,  but  the  damage  was  of  the  slightest, 
and  the  squadron  is  in  as  good  condition  now  as  before  the  battle. 

"  I  beg  to  state  to  the  department  that  I  doubt  if  any  com- 
mander-in-chief  was  ever  served  by  more  loyal,  efficient  and  gallant 
captains  than  those  of  the  squadron  now  under  my  command.  Cap 
tain  Frank  Wildes,  commanding  the  Boston,  volunteered  to  remain 
in  command  of  his  vessel,  although  his  relief  arrived  before  leaving 
Hong  Kong.  Assistant  Surgeon  Kindelberger,  of  the  Olympia,  and 
Gunner  J.  C.  Evans,  of  the  Boston,  also  volunteered  to  remain,  after 
orders  detaching  them  had  arrived.  The  conduct  of  my  personal 


46  THE  PHILIPPINES— PAST  AND  PRESENT 

staff  was  excellent.  Commander  B.  P.  Lamberton,  chief  of  staff,  was 
a  volunteer  for  that  position,  and  gave  me  most  efficient  aid.  Lieu 
tenant  Brumby,  Flag  Lieutenant,  and  Ensign  E.  P.  Scott,  aide,  per 
formed  their  duties  as  signal  officers  in  a  highly  creditable  manner ; 
Caldwell,  Flag  Secretary,  volunteered  for  and  was  assigned  to  a  sub 
division  of  the  five-inch  battery.  Mr.  J.  L.  Stickney,  formerly  an 
officer  in  the  United  States  Navy,  and  now  correspondent  for  the 
New  York  Herald,  volunteered  for  duty  as  my  aide,  and  rendered 
valuable  service.  I  desire  especially  to  mention  the  coolness  of 
Lieutenant  C.  G.  Calkins,  the  navigator  of  the  Olympia,  who  came 
under  my  personal  observation,  being  on  the  bridge  with  me  through 
out  the  entire  action,  and  giving  the  ranges  to  the  guns  with  an 
accuracy  that  was  proven  by  the  excellence  of  the  firing. 

"  On  May  2cl,  the  day  following  the  engagement,  the  squadron 
again  went  to  Cavite,  where  it  remains.  On  the  3d  the  military 
forces  evacuated  the  Cavite  arsenal,  which  was  taken  possession  of 
by  a  landing  party.  On  the  same  day  the  Raleigh  and  the  Baltimore 
secured  the  surrender  of  the  batteries  on  Corregidor  Island,  paroling 
the  garrison  and  destroying  the  guns.  On  the  morning  of  May  4th, 
the  transport  Manila,  which  had  been  aground  in  Bakor  Bay,  was 
towed  off  and  made  a  prize." 


CHAPTER  II 

Behind  Admiral  Dewey's  Guns 

The  Magnificent  Naval  Battle  of  May  ist  Described  by  an  Officer  who  stood  by 
Dewey  during  the  Fight. — The  Personal  Side  of  the  Nation's  Greatest  Hero. 
— A  Brush  with  German  Officers. — The  Surrender  of  Cavite. 

MAY  i,  1898,    will  go  down  in  history  as  the  date  of  the  greatest 
naval  battle  the  world  has  ever  seen.     Farragut  made  himself 
immortal  by  his   famous  order,   "  Damn    the    torpedoes ;  go 
ahead."     Commodore  George  Dewey,  taught  in  the  school  of  Farra 
gut,  went  ahead  in  Manila  Bay,  regardless  of  torpedoes  or  glowering 
forts. 

On  the  night  of  April  3Oth  the  United  States  squadron  was  off 
Manila  Bay.  Darkness  came  on,  and  all  aboard  the  vessels  were  in  a 
state  of  keen  expectancy.  At  10  o'clock  all  hands  were  piped  to 
fighting  quarters,  and  all  lights  were  "doused."  No  one  knew  what 
the  next  few  hours  would  bring. 

Commodore  Dewey  had  been  warned  that  Spanish  mines  and 
torpedoes  had  been  sunk  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  Balloon-shaped, 
with  the  island  of  Corregiclor  across  the  neck,  the  bay  lent  itself 
naturally  to  defence.  The  path  to  Manila  was  a  narrow  and  dan 
gerous  one,  but  Dewey,  fearless  and  confident,  decided  to  make  the 
dash,  and  either  win  or  lose  all  in  one  stroke. 

What  a  picture  the  scene  conjures  up  to  one's  mind  !  The  inky 
blackness  of  the  night,  the  ships  themselves  lightless,  the  men  keyed 
to  a  state  of  excitement,  anxious  as  to  what  their  fate  would  be,  their 
Commodore  calm  as  though  there  was  no  enemy  ahead  or  danger 
beneath.  All  is  silence  except  the  swish  of  the  waters  as  the  fighters 
ploughed  through.  Then  a  spark  or  two  blown  from  the  funnel  of 
the  McCulloch  against  the  black  sky  betrays  to  the  sentinels  on  the 
forts  at  the  harbor  the  presence  of  the  fleet.  The  sharp  boom  of  a 
gun,  another,  and  still  another,  echo  across  the  bay.  They  give  to 
the  Spanish  forces  the  first  inkling  of  the  approaching  battle. 

47 


48  BEHIND  ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  GUNS 

The  story  of  that  battle,  so  modestly  and  simply  told  in  the 
report  of  Commodore  Dewey,  has  already  been  given.  At  his  side 
on  the  flagship  Olympia  all  through  the  engagement  stood  a  young 
naval  officer,  Ensign  W.  Pitt  Scott.  His  name  was  mentioned  by 
Commodore  Dewey  in  the  report  to  the  War  Department,  and  he 
was  specially  commended  for  bravery  in  the  battle. 

ENSIGN    SCOTT'S    STORY    OF    THE    BATTLE. 

It  is  stated  by  Colonel  George  A.  Loud,  who  witnessed  the  bat 
tle  from  the  Revenue  Cutter  McCulloch,  that  a  six-pound  shell  cut 
the  rigging  four  feet  over  Commodore  Dewey's  head  just  as  Ensign 
Scott  was  raising  a  signal  flag  and  the  halyards  were  shot  away. 
Ensigh  Scott  has  told  the  story  of  the  battle,  which  is  given  here 
with.  He  writes  : 

''The  Spaniards  had  ten  ships  fighting  to  our  six,  and,  in  addi 
tion,  had  five  or  six  shore  batteries,  some  of  which  bothered  us  a 
great  deal.  We  steamed  by  their  line  and  fired  some  deadly  shot  at 
them.  We  had  anticipated  that  once  across  their  line  would  be  suffi 
cient  to  silence  them,  but  they  did  not  yield,  and  so,  when  we  got  to 
the  end  of  the  line,  we  turned  and  went  back  at  them  again.  It  was 
getting  really  interesting  now,  for  many  of  their  shots  were  coming 
close  to  us,  and  the  screech  of  the  missiles  as  they  whistled  over  our 
heads  was  anything  but  pleasant.  Now  and  then  we  would  see  a 
shot  strike  in  the  water  ahead  of  us  and  explode  and  the  pieces  of  it 
come  at  us.  I  will  never  forget  it. 

o 

"  I  was  surprised  to  find  how  little  it  disturbed  us.  I  never 
believed  I  would  ever  feel  so  unconcerned  while  the  shots  were  fall 
ing  around  us.  No  one  seemed  to  care  an  iota  whether  the  shells 
dropped  on  us,  or  fell  a  distance  away,  and  in  the  intervals,  between 
which  we  were  making  signals,  the  most  commonplace  remarks  were 
made. 

"  We  passed  across  the  enemy's  line  the  second  time ;  but  that 
did  not  seem  to  silence  them  any  more  than  the  first,  and  we  had  to 
try  it  a  third  time,  with  no  better  result,  although  perhaps  their  fire 
was  not  so  heavy  as  at  first.  A  small  torpedo  boat  came  out  and 
attempted  to  get  within  striking  distance  of  the  Olympia,  but  our 
secondary  battery  drove  her  in  ;  a  second  time  she  came  out  and  at 


THE  BARRACKS  AT  CORREGIDOR  AFTER  SPANISH  WITHDRAWAL. 

The  two  American  newspaper  correspondents,  while  touring  the  island,  were  guided  by  six  Igorrote  warriors  from  Aguiuald 
army.     Notice  they  are  armed  with  primitive  savage  weapons. 


COMMANDANTE'S   HOUSE,   CAVITE. 

The  largest  arsenal  in  the  Philippines  is  at  Cavite.     It  is  now  being  used  to  manufacture  and  store  ammunition 

for  the  U.  S.  troops. 


THE  FLAGSHIP  BORE  THE  BRUNT  OF  THE  FIRE  51 

us,  but  again  our  fire  was  too  much  for  her,  and  some  of  our  shots 
striking  her,  she  had  barely  time  to  get  back  to  the  beach,  or  she 
would  have  sunk. 

THE    FLAGSHIP    BORE    THE    BRUNT    OF    THE    FIRE. 

"  It  soon  became  apparent  that  the  Spaniards  were  concentrating 
their  fire  on  the  Olympia  (as  flagship),  and  we  then  received  the 
brunt  of  the  fight.  At  one  time  the  Reina  Christina,  the  Spanish 
llagship,  attempted  to  come  out  from  her  position  and  engage  us  at 
closer  distance,  but  we  turned  our  fire  on  her  and  drove  her  back. 

"  A  fourth  time  we  steamed  across  their  line,  and  a  fifth,  and  it 
began  to.  look  as  if  they  were  not  going  to  give  in  until  after  all  our 
ammunition  would  be  exhausted,  which  would  leave  us  in  a  very  seri 
ous  predicament,  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy  and  in  one  of  their  ports, 
7,000  miles  from  supplies  ;  so  after  the  fifth  time  across  their  line  we 
withdrew  to  count  up  our  ammunition,  to  see  how  we  stood,  and  get 
breakfast. 

"  It  was  only  7.30  A.M.,  but  it  seemed  to  us  as  if  it  were  the  mid 
dle  of  the  .day.  Then  we  began  to  count  our  casualities,  and  found 
that  no  one  had  been  killed  and  no  one  injured,  with  a  few  slight 
exceptions. 

"  But  it  was  the  dirtiest-looking  crowd  I  have  ever  seen,  and  by 
far  the  oddest.  It  was  so  hot  that  nearly  all  of  the  men  had  stripped 
off  all  their  clothes, — in  fact,  in  the  turrets  they  did  strip  off  about 
everything  but  their  shoes,  which  they  kept  on  to  protect  their  feet 
from  the  hot  floor.  Commodore  Dewey  himself,  the  most  dressed 
man  in  the  battle,  was  in  white  duck  ;  the  rest  of  us  appeared  with 
out  collars  and  some  without  shirts,  an  undershirt  and  white  blouse 
being  more  than  sufficient  for  our  needs,  and,  if  our  blouses  were  not 
off,  they  certainly  were  not  buttoned. 

STANDING    UNDER    SHARP    FIRE. 

"We  were  a  mighty  dirty  crowd.  Our  faces  and  clothes  were 
full  of  smoke  and  powder  and  saltpetre,  and  the  perspiration  rolling 
around  in  that  made  us  picturesquely  handsome.  I  would  have  given 
a  good  deal  for  a  picture  of  the  ship's  company,  men  and  officers. 

"  Then   we    looked    around   to    see  where   the   ship  had   been 


52  BEHIND  ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  GUNS 

injured,  and  found  that  she  had  been  struck  several  times,  none  of 
which  materially  hurt  her.  On  the  bridge  where  we  stood  was,  per 
haps,  the  hottest  place  of  all,  for  at  least  four  shots  struck  within 
thirty  or  forty  feet  of  it.  One  of  the  ugly  shots  flew  over  our  heads 
with  a  screech,  but  its  cry  was  a  little  different  from  most  of  the 
others,  and  several  of  us  said,  '  That  hit  something',  and  we  looked 
aloft  to  see  if  it  had,  and  found  the  halyards  on  which  we  had  a 
signal  flying  cut  in  two,  and  the  signal  out  to  the  leeward.  Another 
shot  cut  the  wire-rigging  ten  feet  over  our  heads,  while  any  number 
flew  close  over  us  without  striking  anything. 

11  About  halfpast  ten  we  returned  to  the  attack,  and  gave  the 
Baltimore  the  post  of  honor  in  leading,  as  we  were  very  short  of 
5-inch  ammunition,  and  the  way  that  the  Baltimore  did  fire  into  the 
Spanish  batteries  was  a  caution.  It  was  not  long  before  the  enemy 
was  completely  silenced  and  the  white  flag  run  up.  Two  of  their 
ships  were  on  fire  and  burning  fiercely,  and  one  was  sinking.  The 
Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa  was  the  last  to  give  in,  and  after  she  was  aban 
doned  by  her  crew,  she  still  kept  her  flag  flying,  which  necessitated 
our  firing  at  her  until  it  was  lowered  ;  but  as  no  one  was  left  on  board 
to  lower  it,  we  kept  firing  at  her  until  she  slowly  began  to  sink.  It 
was  a  grand  sight  to  see  her  settle  aft,  with  the  flag  of  Spain  upon 
her. 

"  Then  we  sent  one  of  the  smaller  ships  in  to  destroy  those  that 
were  still  afloat,  and  the  Petrel  burned  and  sunk  four  or  five  of  them, 
while  the  Concord  fired  a  large  transport,  which,  we  afterward 
learned,  was  quite  full  of  coal  and  stuff  for  the  Spaniards.  Altogether 
our  six  ships,  the  Olympia,  Baltimore,  Raleigh,  Boston,  Concord,  and 
Petrel,  burned  and  sunk  almost  the  entire  Spanish  fleet  that  is  in  the 
East,  as  follows,  viz.  :  Sunk,  the  Reina  Christina  (flagship),  Castilta 
and  Antonio  de  Austria,  the  Isla  de  Cuba,  the  Jsl-.i  de  Luzon,  the 
Marqiics  del  Duero,  the  Velasco,  the  General  Lezo,  the  El  Correo,  and 
the  transport  Isla  de  Mindanao.  There  is  still  one  small  vessel,  the 
Argus,  on  the  ways,  but  she  is  so  badly  damaged  by  shot  that  I  doubt 
if  she  would  float  if  we  tried  to  put  her  into  the  water.  Besides,  we 
captured  the  Manila,  a  splendid  i goo-ton  vessel,  which  they  used  as 
transport,  and  on  which  we  expect  to  send  home  our  trophies  in  the 
way  of  captured  guns,  etc.  We  also  captured  any  number  of  tu<*s 


PROUD  OF  THE  SHIPS'    WOUNDS  53 

and  steam  launches,  some  of  which  we  are  now  using.     Some  of  them 
were  very  fine  tugboats. 

ALL    WERE    PROUD    OF    THE    SHIPS'    WOUNDS. 

"  Everyone  seemed  proud  of  the  wounds  to  the  ships.  The 
evening  of  the  fight  I  had  to  go  around  to  the  different  ships  on  an 
errand  for  Commodore  Dewey,  and  on  each  one  all  hands  made  it  a 
point  to  take  me  around  and  show  me  where  each  shot  hit  them. 

"  The  harbor  presents  quite  an  unusual  appearance  with  eight  or 
nine  ships  showing  just  above  water,  the  masts  charred,  and  their 
upper  works  (those  that  can  be  seen)  nothing  but  a  twisted  mass  of 
iron.  It  looks  as  if  we  had  done  something  to  pay  for  the  Maine. 

"  I  got  ashore  several  days  after  the  engagement  and  walked 
through  the  navy  yard.  It  presents  a  woeful  sight.  The  barracks 
had  any  number  of  holes  in  the  sides,  and  things  were  strewn  all 
over.  In  one  room  of  the  the  commandant's  house  we  saw  where 
a  large  8-inch  shell  had  gone  through  the  roof,  and  after  carrying 
away  the  thick  planking  had  exploded,  knocking  down  the  side  of 
the  room  and  wrecking  everything  in  it.  In  another  building  I  saw 
where  a  shell  had  gone  through  the  side  of  it,  and  had  scattered 
the  bricks  all  over  the  room." 

In  this  remarkable  battle,  Admiral  Montojo,  the  Spanish  Com 
mander,  fought  with  the  bravery  that  won  from  Admiral  Dewey  com 
pliments  and  congratulations.  His  flagship,  the  Reina  Maria  Chris 
tina,  the  best  of  his  fleet,  dashed  bravely  towards  the  long  line  of 
belching  vessels  of  Dewey's  squadron,  hoping  to  cripple  at  least  one 
of  the  warships,  that  was  pouring  such  an  awful  fire  into  his  fleet.  It 
was  the  madness  of  despair. 

Dewey  signalled  for  a  concentration  of  fire  upon  the  on-coming 
vessel,  and  as  she  neared  the  Olympia,  the  latter  discharged  her 
8-inch  guns  both  fore  and  aft,  killing  sixty  of  the  Spaniard's  crew, 
including  her  captain,  chaplain  and  a  lieutenant,  and  causing  her 
boilers  to  explode.  The  flagship  was  a  burning  wreck,  and  was  forced 
to  retire.  Admiral  Montojo  transferred  his  flag  to  the  Isla  de  Cuba, 
which  maintained  a  vigorous  fire  until  she  too  sank  at  her  moorings. 

Admiral  Montojo's  own  account  of  the  fight  is  interesting  as 
giving  a  Spanish  view  of  the  greatest  of  naval  encounters.  The 


54  BEHIND  ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  GUNS 

Admiral  is  a  spare  man,  of  small  stature,  about  65  years  old,  with  an 
air  of  an  old  Spanish  Grandee.  He  speaks  English  fluently,  but 
with  a  slight  accent,  and  the  following  are  his  own  words  in  describ 
ing  the  battle  : 

THE    SPANISH    ADMIRALS    ACCOUNT    OF    HIS    DEFEAT. 

"  About  5  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  I  observed  the  American 
squadron  coming  in  line  straight  across  the  bay  towards  Cavite.  We 
prepared  to  receive  them.  A  few  minutes  after  5  o'clock  the  engage 
ment  opened,  the  battery  on  Pont  Sangley  (Cavite)  firing  on  each 
ship  as  she  came  within  range.  The  American  ships  did  not  reply. 
All  the  Spanish  ships  were  in  Cavite  Bay  at  anchor — the  Reina  Chris- 
tina  (my  flagship),  Castilla,  Don  Juan  de  Austria,  Ulloa,  Isla  de  Cuba, 
Isla  de  Luzon,  Marques  del  Duero,  and  some  small  gunboats.  The 
Reina  Christina  and  the  Don  Juan,  as  you  know,  were  old  cruisers  ; 
the  Castilla  was  a  wooden  cruiser,  but  was  unable  to  steam  owing  to 
the  breakdown  of  her  engines  ;  the  Ulloa  and  Velasco  were  helpless, 
and  were  undergoing  repairs  off  the  arsenal. 

"The  Olympia,  Baltimore,  Raleigh,  and  Boston  engaged  my  flag 
ship  in  turn  about  5.30,  attracted  by  my  flag.  I  recognized  the  neces 
sity  of  getting  under  way,  and  accordingly  slipped  both  anchors, 
ordering  the  other  ships  to  follow  my  example.  Although  we  recog 
nized  the  hopelessness  of  fighting  the  American  ships,  we  were  busy 
returning  their  fire.  The  Reina  Christina  was  hit  repeatedly.  Shortly 
after  6.30  I  observed  fire  forward.  Our  steering  gear  was  damaged, 
rendering  the  vessel  unmanageable,  and  we  were  being  subjected  to 
a  terrific  hail  of  shell  and  shot.  The  engines  were  struck,  and  we 
estimated  that  we  had  70  hits  about  our  hull  and  superstructure.  The 
boilers  were  not  hit,  but  the  pipe  to  the  condenser  was  destroyed. 
A  few  moments  later  I  observed  the  afterpart  on  fire.  A  shell  from 
the  Americans  had  penetrated  and  burst  with  deadly  effect,  killing 
many  of  our  men. 

"My  flag  lieutenant  said  to  me,  'The  ship  is  in  flames.  It  is 
impossible  to  stay  on  the  Christina  any  longer.'  He  signalled  to  the 
gunboat  Isla  de  Cuba,  and  I  and  my  staff  transferred  to  her,  and  my 
flag  was  hoisted  on  her.  Before  leaving  the  Christina  my  flag  was 
hauled  down.  My  flagship  was  now  one  mass  of  flame.  I  ordered 


THE  LAST  SPANISH  SIGNAL  5  5 

away  all  the  boats  I  could  to  save  the  crew.  Many  of  the  men  jumped 
overboard  without  clothing  and  succeeded  in  reaching  the  shore,  sev 
eral  hundreds  of  yards  away.  Only  a  few  men  were  drowned,  the 
majority  being  picked  up  by  the  boats. 

"  Before  jumping  overboard,  Captain  Cadarso's  son,  a  lieutenant 
on  board  the  Christina,  saw  his  father  alive  on  deck,  but  others  state 
that  as  the  Captain  was  about  to  leave  a  shell  burst  overhead  and 
killed  him.  We  estimate  that  52  men  were  killed  on  board  the 
Christina  and  about  150  wounded.  The  chaplain  was  killed.  The 
assistant  physician,  the  chief  engineer,  and  three  officers  were  wounded. 
The  boatswain  and  chief  gunner  were  both  killed.  In  the  Castitla 
only  about  15  men  were  killed,  but  there  were  many  wounded, 
both  on  the  Castilla  and  the  Don  Juan,  on  which  13  men  were 
killed.  Altogether,  so  far  as  we  know  at  present,  400  men  were  killed 
and  wounded  in  our  ships. 

"  As  soon  as  I  translated  myself  from  the  Reina  Christina  to  the 
Isla  de  Cuba  all  the  shots  were  directed  upon  the  Cuba,  following  my 
flag.  We  sought  shelter  behind  the  pier  at  Cavite,  and,  recognizing 
the  futility  of  fighting  more,  I  prepared  to  disembark,  and  gave  orders 
for  the  evacuation  of  the  remainder  of  our  ships.  The  Castilla  had 
been  on  fire  from  end  to  end  for  some  time,  and  was,  of  course,  already 
abandoned.  The  Ulloa  was  also  burning. 

THE    LAST    SPANISH    SIGNAL. 

"  My  last  signal  to  the  Captains  of  all  vessels  was — *  Scuttle  and 
abandon  your  ships/ 

"This  was  about  7.30.  The  Reina  Christina,  Castilla,  Don  Juan 
de  Austria,  Velasco,  and  Ulloa  were  all  destroyed  in  this  engagement. 
To  prevent  the  guns  being  of  use  to  the  Americans,  the  Captains,  on 
abandoning,  brought  away  portions  of  the  mechanism,  and  also  suc 
ceeded  in  saving  all  the  ships'  papers  and  treasure.  At  this  point 
there  was  a  cessation  of  firing.  The  Boston  sent  ashore  a  boat  with 
an  officer  carrying  a  white  flag,  and  parleyed  with  the  Chief  of  the 
Arsenal.  He  asked  permission  to  destroy  the  vessels  completely 
without  interference  from  the  shore.  After  consultation  with  me,  the 
Chief  of  the  Arsenal  replied  that  it  was  not  competent  on  my  part 
to  give  any  pledge  ;  the  ships  were  at  his  mercy  and  he  could  do  with 


56  BEHIND  ADMIRAL  DEWEY' S  GUNS 

them  as  he  liked.  While  the  parleying  was  proceeding,  the  Petrel  and 
Concord  went  across  the  bay,  and  fired  a  large  number  of  shots  into 
the  Isla  de  Mindanao,  which  was  lying  ashore  near  Bacoor,  and  she 
soon  caught  fire.  Her  captain  had  run  her  ashore  when  the  American 
squadron  was  observed  making  for  Cavite  Bay.  She  never  fired  a 
shot. 

"  I  was  wounded  in  the  left  leg  by  an  iron  splinter,  and  my  son, 
a  lieutenant,  was  wounded  in  the  hand  by  a  shell  splinter.  We  were 
both  wounded  on  the  Reina  Christina.  I  directed  the  movements  of 
my  squadron  from  the  bridge.  There  was  no  conning  tower.  The 
Captain  of  the  Boston  said  to  my  chief  of  staff,  Captain  Boado,  'You 
have  combated  with  us  with  four  very  bad  ships,  not  warships.  There 
was  never  seen  before  braver  fighting  under  such  unequal  conditions. 
It  is  a  great  pity  that  you  exposed  your  lives  in  vessels  not  fit  for 
fighting'.  Commodore  Dewey  also  sent  me  a  message  by  the  British 
Consul,  saying  that,  peace  or  war,  he  would  have  great  pleasure  in 
clasping  me  by  the  hand,  and  congratulating  me  on  the  gallant  man 
ner  in  which  we  fought." 

A    WILD    EXULTANT    CHEER    OF    VICTORY. 

And  so  the  great,  fight  ended.  When  the  little  Petrel  announced 
that  the  Spanish  fleet  had  scuttled  their  vessels  and  fled,  a  great 
cheer  went  up  from  all  the  men  who  had  braved  the  perils  of  the 
Spanish  fire,  and  that  cheer  was  doubled  and  redoubled  when,  later 
on,  it  was  announced  that  not  one  man  of  the  American  fleet  had 
lost  his  life.  The  only  death  was  due  to  apoplexy  brought  on  by  the 
intense  heat.  The  Chief  Engineer  of  the  McCnlloch  was  the  victim ; 
he  suddenly  expired,  not  in  the  battle,  but  just  as  the  fleet  was 
entering  the  mouth  of  the  bay. 

Fighting  ceased  about  12.15  p.  M.,  by  which  time  all  the  Spanish 
ships  were  sunk  or  burned.  The  arsenal  was  ablaze,  and  throughout 
the  night  explosions  weYe  occurring  in  Cavite  Bay — an  alluring 
spectacle  of  destruction. 

It  was  in  the  smaller  incidents  of  this  great  battle  that  Commo 
dore  (thereafter  to  be  known  as  Admiral)  Dewey  showed  to  his  men, 
and  to  the  whole  world,  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  The  with 
drawal  of  his  fleet  so  that  his  men,  exhausted  by  the  severe  work  of 


GEORGE  DEWEY,  ADMIRAL,  HERO,  STATESMAN,  ETC.        $7 

battle,  might  have  breakfast  has  thrilled  every  heart.  His  kindness 
and  courtesy  in  complimenting  a  defeated  foe  for  personal  bravery, 
proved  him  a  gentleman  even  in  war.  His  cablegrams  to  the  Navy 
Department  show  him  a  man  of  rare  modesty.  One  sentence  in  the 
second  of  his  dispatches,  harmonizing  as  it  does  with  the  keynote  of 
the  whole  war— "  humanity  "-—will  live  in  history  with  the  sayings  of 
the  greatest  men  the  world  has  had.  Let  us  repeat  his  own  words : 
"  I  am  assisting  in  protecting  the  Spanish  sick  and  wounded.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  sick  and  wounded  in  hospital  within  our  line." 
That  was  humanity's  own  voice.  When  in  naval  history  had  such  a 
spectacle  ever  been  witnessed.  Before  the  smoke  of  battle  had  even 
cleared  away,  the  victorious  commander  was  plying  the  hand  of 
brotherly  charity  to  stay  the  sufferings  of -the  men  with  whom  he  had 
been  engaged  in  deadly  combat. 

GEORGE    DEWEY,    ADMIRAL,    HERO,     STATESMAN,    GENTLEMAN. 

The  United  States  Navy  has  never  had,  perhaps,  as  remarkable 
a  figure  as  George  Dewey.  From  Maine  to  Mexico,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific,  his  name  is  as  familiar,  and  he  is  as  beloved,  as  any  of 
the  great  figures  of  the  nation's  history. 

Admiral  Dewey  is  not  only  a  great  fighter,  but  has  proved  him 
self  a  great  statesman.  The  situation  after  the  downfall  of  Cavite 
was  a  perplexing  one  ;  immediately  after  the  battle,  Dewey  had  cut 
the  cable  that  connected  Manila  with  the  rest  of  the  world  and  he 
was,  therefore,  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  as  to  what  to  do  in  an 
emergency.  He  could  not  be  directed  by  the  government  at  Wash 
ington.  He  had  gone  to  the  islands  seeking  only  the  Spanish  fleet, 
and  determined  to  carry  out  the  cabled  instructions  he  had  received 
at  Hong-Kong,  ordering  him  to  "find  the  Spanish  fleet  and  capture 
or  utterly  destroy  it."  How  well  he  did  this  has  already  been  told. 
But  now  the  question  of  holding  an  arsenal,  captured  by  him,  without 
having  at  his  disposal  any  considerable  force  of  armed  soldiers  con 
fronted  him. 

The  insurgent  forces  under  General  Aguinaldo  had  moved  upon 
Manila,  when  the  attack  had  been  made  upon  the  fleet  in  the  bay. 
After  the  withdrawal  of  the  Spanish  forces  from  Cavite  the  insurgents 
were  eager  to  plunder  the  houses  left  by  the  terror-stricken  people. 


58  BEHIND  ADMIRAL  DEWEY'S  GUNS 

They  did  not  hesitate  to  rob  even  the  dead.  But  Admiral  Dewey 
determined  not  to  allow  such  things,  and  immediately  he  had  his 
hands  full. 

DEWEY    HAS    NEED    FOR    FIRMNESS. 

To  add  to  his  troubles  the  German  Emperor  sent  to  Manila  Bay 
several  of  his  mighty  battleships  in  command  of  Admiral  von  Died- 
rich.  The  sympathies  of  Germany  were  apparently  with  Spain,  and 
the  German  Admiral  let  no  opportunity  go  by  without  showing  his 
feelings  in  the  matter.  An  incident  occurred  when  the  insurgents 
were  making  an  attack  upon  the  Spanish  outposts  which  is  worth 
recording.  The  fighting  between  the  Spaniards  and  insurgents  was 
always  done  under  cover  of  darkness,  partly  because  of  the  extreme 
heat,  and  partly  because  of  the  guerrilla  style  of  warfare  which  was 
carried  on.  When  the  battle  was  begun  the  German  vessels  in  the 
harbor  turned  their  powerful  search-lights  upon  the  places  where  the 
insurgent  army  was  concealed,  thus  putting  them  in  the  glare  of  the 
light  and  rendering  them  an  easy  mark  for  the  Spaniards  who  were 
hidden  effectually  by  the  darkness.  But  the  light  rested  there  only 
for  a  moment.  Admiral  Dewey  sent  peremptory  orders  to  the  Ger 
man  Admiral  that  if  the  lights  were  not  extinguished  immediately,  or 
if  the  action  were  repeated,  he  would  consider  it  an  act  of  war  against 
the  United  States,  and  take  steps  accordingly.  The  lights  were  never 
again  flashed  upon  the  struggling  insurgents. 

When  Admiral  Dewey  was  ready  to  shell  the  Spanish  forces,  he 
ordered  all  of  the  vessels  of  the  foreign  powers  then  in  the  harbor  to 
remove  to  a  distance  of  three  miles  from  his  fleet.  The  attitude  of 
the  German  fleet,  though  not  openly  hostile,  had  been  significantly 
unfriendly.  When  the  German  Admiral  received  Dewey's  order  he 
removed  to  the  required  distance,  but  lined  up  his  vessels  in  such  a 
way  that  they  bore  directly  upon  the  American  fleet  so  that  in  case 
there  was  a  display  of  open  partisanship  on  the  part  of  Germany, 
Dewey's  fleet  would  be  between  two  fires, — the  fires  of  the  forts  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  fires  of  the  German  warships  on  the  other. 

A    FRIENDLY    ACT    BY    THE    BRITISH    ADMIRAL. 

It  was  then  that  the  British  friendliness,  which  had  been  such  a 
prominent  feature  at  home,  displayed  itself  as  a  reality.  The  British 

\ 


THE  EARLY  CAREER  OF  DEWEY  61 

Admiral  moved  his  warships  and  came  at  anchor  in  a  position  imme 
diately  between  the  vessels  of  Germany  and  those  of  the  United 
States.  If  Germany,  therefore,  had  fired  a  shot,  it  would  have  fired 
through  the  warships  of  England.  The  trouble  ended  then  and 
there,  although  the  German  Admiral  kept  up  petty  annoyances  for 
some  time.  Finally,  Admiral  Dewey  turned  to  one  of  the  German 
Admiral's  Lieutenants  and  said  to  him,  "If  Germany  wants  war  with 
my  country,  it  can  have  it  in  five  minutes."  The  invitation,  it  is 
needless  to  say,  was  not  accepted. 

It  was  thus  that  Admiral  Dewey  met  emergencies — ever  polite, 
ever  the  cultured  man  of  the  world,  but  ever  the  firm,  fearless  officer, 
ready  to  fight  if  need  be  to  uphold  the  dignity  and  honor  of  his 
nation  and  himself.  It  is  fitting  that  the  nation  has  especially 
singled  out  such  a  man  for  the  highest  office  that  can  be  given  to 
men  of  the  navy.  The  President  personally  tendered  him  the  thanks 
of  the  people  ;  Congress  made  him  Rear  Admiral,  and  revived  for 
him  the  grade  of  Admiral,  which  went  out  of  existence  many  years 
ago  with  Admiral  Porter.  In  addition,  it  has  presented  him  with  a 
magnificent  gold  sword  as  a  gift  of  his  countrymen. 

Admiral  Dewey  is  a  man  to  admire  at  close  range.  Many 
heroes  lose  their  gloss  on  close  acquaintance.-  With  Dewey  this  is 
not  so.  Through  a  long  line  of  sturdy  stock  he  has  inherited  a  culture, 
an  integrity,  and  a  force  of  character  that  make  him  a  man  to  honor. 
He  was  born  in  a  fine  old  Colonial  mansion  in  Montpelier,  Vt.,  sixty 
years  ago.  He  was  a  young  man  when  he  first  fell  in  love  with  his 
life  work.  He  wanted  to  go  to  sea,  but  his  father  did  not  take  kindly 
to  the  idea.  A  compromise  was  effected.  The  boy  at  14  left  the 
Montpelier  public  school  to  enter  the  Norwich  University  at  North- 
field,  Vt.,  a  military  school,  where  his  useful  enthusiasm  was  tempo 
rarily  appeased  by  musket  practice  and  drills.  But  the  craving  for 
the  sea  life  was  still  strong  with  Dewey. 

THE  EARLY  CAREER  OF  DEWEY. 

So  his  father  secured  for  him  an  appointment  to  the  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis  in  1854;  he  graduated  in  1858.  When  Fort 
Surrite~  was  fired  on  in  1861,  Dewey  received  his  commission  as  a 
Lieutenant  on  the  seventeen-gun  steam  sloop  Mississippi.  His 


62  BEHIND  ADMIRAL  DEWEY' S  GUNS 

Yankee  blood  was  hot  for  fight,  and  he  and  his  vessel  participated 
in  the  terrific  actions  of  the  West  Gulf  squadron.  History  tells  how 
young  Dewey  received  the  baptism  of  battle,  and  how  owing  to  the 
terrible  fire  of  the  shore  batteries  on  the  Mississippi  River  the  crew 
were  forced  to  abandon  their  vessel.  The  last  to  leave  the  ship  were 
the  Captain  and  his  First  Lieutenant,  George  Dewey.  Again  and 
again  through  the  war  he  showed  his  metal.  He  served  on  the 
famous  Kearsarge  and  afterward  on  the  flagship  Colorado.  He 
received  his  first  command  in  1870,  the  Narragansat.  Passing 
through  various  years  of  service,  Dewey  became,  in  1884,  a  Captain 
and  Commander  of  the  Dolphin,  one  of  the  first  craft  of  the  new 
navy.  His  promotion  continued  rapidly.  From  1885  to  1888  he 
commanded  the  Pensacola,  flagship  of  the  European  squadron. 

On  account  of  his  devotion  to  method,  his  close  application  to 
detail  and  his  wide  knowledge  of  naval  science  he  was  elevated,  in 
1888,  to  the  head  of  the  Bureau  of  Equipment  and  Recruiting,  with  the 
rank  of  Commodore.  In  1893  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  Light 
house  Board,  and  three  years  later,  having  reached  the  actual  rank 
of  Commodore,  he  became  President  of  the  Board  of  Inspection  and 
Survey.  He  left  that  important  post  to  take  command  of  the  Asiatic 
squadron. 

His  son,  George  Dewey,  speaking  of  his  father  a  few  days  after 
the  great  victory,  said  :  "  When  I  said  good-bye  to  him  at  the  station 
I  told  him,  '  I  hope  you  will  have  a  most  pleasant  and  successful 
cruise.'  He  said  with  a  laugh,  'Well,  I  guess  I  will,  I  am  the  first 
Commodore  to  go  out  there  since  Perry,  and  that  ought  to  mean 
something  ? '  All  the  others  have  been  Admirals  since  Perry,  and 
that  rather  seemed  at  the  moment  to  have  attached  some  significance 
to  the  fact  that  he  was  the  first  Commodore  on  the  Asiatic  squadron 
since  then." 

THE    MAN    IN    WHITE    IN    A    PERSONAL    WAY. 

Admiral  Dewey  is  known  as  the  Man  in  White  in  the  Philippines. 
He  is  a  stickler  for  dress,  is  himself  always  immaculate,  and  insists 
that  those  around  him  shall  be  careful  about  their  personal  appear 
ance.  Those  who  think,  from  his  photograph,  that  he  is  c  small 
man,  are  mistaken.  He  weighs  fully  185  pounds,  and  is  so  near  6 


THE  MAN  IN  WHITE  IN  A  PERSONAL   WA  Y  63 

feet  in  height,  that  he  gives  one  the  impression  of  being  fully  that. 
He  carries  himself  well,  is  graceful,  though  somewhat  quick  and  ner 
vous  in  his  movements,  and  his  face  reflects  keenness,  cleverness,  and 
an  appreciation  of  good  humor.  He  has  a  quick  temper  which  some 
times  leads  him  to  say  stinging  things,  but  his  self-control  is  so  excel 
lent,  that  one  cannot  but  admire  how  well  he  holds  himself  in  check. 
He  is  the  idol  of  every  man  in  his  command,  and  what  is  more  to  his 
credit,  he  was  their  idol  before  he  became  the  victor  at  Manila  Bay. 

When  ashore,  he  is  a  great  club  man,  a  fine  horseman,  and  an 
expert-gunner.  His  wife  died  many  years  ago,  shortly  after  the  birth 
of  their  only  son,  George.  Dewey  is  an  early  riser  when  on  shore, 
temperate  to  the  degree  of  abstemiousness.  He  enjoys  a  good  table, 
but  eats  sparingly ;  he  is  fond  of  a  good  cigar  after  dinner,  and  occa 
sionally  smokes  between  times.  He  is  methodical,  business-like,  cool 
and  very  deliberate ;  he  does  his  own  work  well,  and  expects  every 
body  else  to  do  the  same.  He  is  very  fond  of  children,  and  in  his 
younger  clays,  when  he  visited  his  native  town,  it  was  very  often  a 
familiar  spectacle  to  see  him  on  the  piazza  of  the  old  Dewey  home 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  wide-eyed  youngsters,  telling  them  stories 
about  daring  men-of-warsmen  and  sea  battles. 

Eugene  Field's  verse  is  not  a  bad  description,  in  many  respects, 
of  George  Dewey  : 

"  A  single  man,  perhaps,  but  good  ez  gold  and  true  ez  steel, 
He  could  whip  his  weight  in  wild  cats  and  you  never  heard  him  squeel, 
Good  to  the  helpless  and  the  weak  ;  a  brave  an'  manly  heart, 
A  cyclone  couldn't  phase,  but  any  child  could  rend  apart ; 
So  like  the  mountain  pine  that  dares  the  storm  which  sweeps  along, 
But  rocks  the  wind  in  summertime,  an'  sings  a  soothin'  song." 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Second  Battle  of  Manila 

How  8,000  American  Soldiers  Swept  into  a  Heavily  Entrenched  City,  Garrisoned  by 
Nearly  Twice  that  Number  of  Spaniards. — Insurgent  Army  Kept  from  Plunder. 
— Rare  Bravery  and  Sacrifice. — What  Major-General  Wesley  Merritt,  Command 
ing  the  Expedition,  General  Frank  V.  Greene,  General  Arthur  McArthur  and 
General  Thomas  Anderson  Said  Officially  of  the  Battle. — The  Peace  Protocol. 

AFTER  the  occupation  of  the  arsenal  at  Cavite  by  Admiral 
Dewey  that  officer  waited  without  further  fighting  until  he 
could  receive  reinforcements  from  the  United  States  sufficient 
to  enable  him  to  take  and  hold  Manila.  The  insurgents,  however, 
kept  up  a  continuous  fighting  in  the  region  around  Manila  until  they 
practically  held  all  of  the  territory  except  that  city  in  their  grasp. 
They  fought  with  great  bravery,  and,  although  checked  by  Admiral 
Dewey  at  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  they  managed  to  drive  the  Span 
ish  behind  their  fortifications  and  force  them  to  the  wall.  They  held 
Malabon,  Tarlac,  and  Bakkoor,  Aguinaldo  establishing  a  provisional 
government  at  the  latter  place  and  announcing  himself  dictator  of  the 
islands.  The  insurgents  were  eager  to  rush  upon  the  city,  but 
Dewey  refused  to  allow  "  Hordes  of  passionate  semi-savages  to 
storm  a  civilized  metropolis."  He  forbade  them  to  cross  the  Malate 
River,  seven  miles  south  of  Manila,  threatening  to  bombard  them 
with  the  Petrel. 

In  a  campaign  of  two  weeks  the  insurgents  took  3,000  prisoners, 
including  2,000  soldiers  of  the  regular  Spanish  army.  On  July  I3th 
Dewey  sent  the  following  cablegram  to  the  Naval  Department : 
44  Aguinaldo  informs  me  his  troops  have  taken  all  of  Subic  Bay  except 
Isla  Grande,  which  he  was  prevented  from  taking  by  the  German 
man-of-war  Irene.  On  July  yth  the  Raleigh  and  Concord  went  there  ; 
they  took  the  island  and  about  1,300  men  with  arms  and  ammunition. 
No  resistance.  The  Irene  retired  from  the  bay  on  their  arrival." 

This  last  sentence  contains  in  a  nutshell  one  of  the  most  exciting 
64 


THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA  65 

incidents  in  the  history  of  the  war,  an  incident  which  almost  involved 
our  nation  in  a  war  with  Germany.  This  was  the  first  open  action  of 
the  German  Admiral  against  the  United  States.  When  the  insur 
gents  were  about  to  take  the  island,  the  German  warship  Irene 
appeared  on  the  scene  and  protected  the  Spaniards  there  from 
attack.  Dewey,  when  informed  of  the  matter,  sent  the  Boston  and 
Raleigh  to  the  island,  and  the  Irene  slunk  away.  One  shot  from  the 
Raleigh  caused  the  Spaniards  to  raise  the  white  flag.  The  captain 
of  the  Irene  explained  that  he  interfered  "  in  the  cause  of  humanity," 
and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  German  meddling  would  prove 
a  serious  matter.  The  German  government,  however,  repudiated  the 
incident,  and  that,  together  with  Dewey's  splendid  handling  of  the 
situation,  prevented  the  affair  from  assuming  the  proportion  it 
threatened. 

In  the  meantime  three  expeditions  were  on  their  way  across  the 
ocean  to  take  charge  of  matters,  and  reinforce  Admiral  Dewey. 
General  Wesley  Merritt  was  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the 
forces  in  the  Philippines,  and  arrived  at  Cavite  July  25th.  Some  days 
before,  on  June  3Oth,  the  first  expedition  under  General  Thomas  An 
derson  had  landed.  Another  expedition  under  General  Frank  V. 
Greene  arrived  on  July  i7th,  and  the  third,  under  General  McArthur, 
arrived  July  3Oth,  five  days  later  than  General  Merritt. 

Immediately  upon  the  arrival  of  General  Merritt  it  was  decided, 
after  a  conference  with  Admiral  Dewey,  to  attack  and  take  Manila. 
No  time  was  lost.  General  Merritt  stated  in  his  dispatch  that  "to 
gain  approach  to  the  city  Greene's  outposts  were  advanced  to  continue 
a  line  from  Camino  Real  to  the  beach.  On  the  night  of  July  3ist, 
Spanish  attacked  sharply.  Artillery  outposts  behaved  well.  Held 
position.  Necessary  to  call  out  brigade.  Spanish  loss  rumored 
heavy."  Our  loss  was  9  killed,  9  seriously  wounded  and  38  slightly 
wounded. 

This  plain  statement  of  facts  gives  no  idea,  however,  of  the  real 
battle  which  initiated  our  soldiers  into  the  warfare  of  the  Philippine 
Islands.  The  fighting  took  place  amid  a  terrible  rainstorm,  a  rain 
storm  such  as  we  are  not  familiar  with  in  the  United  States  ;  3,000 
Spanish  troops  made  a  concerted  sortie  from  Manila  on  the  outposts 
and  trenches  of  Camp  Dewey,  near  Malate.  The  attack  was  directed 


66  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA 

at  the  American  right  flank  held  by  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania  troops. 
The  trenches  of  the  Americans  extended  from  the  beach  to  the 
left  flank  of  the  insurgents.  Sunday  was  the  insurgent  feast  day, 
and  their  left  flank  withdrew,  leaving  the  American  right  flank 
exposed.  Companies  A  and  E  of  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania  and  Utah 
Battery  were  ordered  to  reinforce  the  right  flank ;  it  was  there  that 
the  attack  was  made.  The  brave  Pennsylvania  men  never  flinched, 
but  stood  their  ground  under  "a  withering  fire.  The  alarm  spread  and 
the  First  California  Regiment  with  two  companies  of  the  Third  Artil 
lery  who  fight  with  rifles  were  sent  as  reinforcements. 

The  Utah  battery  covered  itself  with  glory,  and  all  the  men 
showed  the  greatest  pluck  under  the  trying  deluge  of  nature  and  of 
the  Spaniards.  The  enemy  was  repulsed  and  retreated  in  disorder. 
The  Spanish  loss  was  about  350  killed  and  900  wounded.  On  the 
night  of  August  ist  the  fighting  was  renewed,  but  the  enemy  had 
been  taught  a  lesson  and  made  the  attack  at  long  range  with  heavy 
artillery.  The  Utah  Battery  replied,  and  the  artillery  duel  lasted 
about  an  hour. 

General  Greene,  in  his  report  of  the  battle,  says :  "  Major  Cuth- 
bertson,  Tenth  Pennsylvania,  reports  that  the  Spaniards  left  their 
trenches  in  force  and  attempted  to  turn  our  right  flank,  coming  within 
200  yards  of  his  position.-  But  as  the  night  was  intensely  dark,  with 
incessant  and  heavy  rain,  and  as  no  dead  or  wounded  were  found  in 
front  of  his  position  at  daylight,  it  is  possible  that  he  was  mistaken, 
and  that  the  heavy  fire  to  which  he  was  subjected  came  from  the 
trenches  near  Block  House  14,  beyond  his  right  flank,  at  a  distance 
of  about  700  yards.  The  Spaniards  used  smokeless  powder,  the 
thickets  obscured  the  flash  of  their  guns,  and  the  Mauser  bullet 
penetrating  a  bamboo  pole  makes  a  noise  very  similar  to  the  crack  of 
the  rifle  itself ;  hence,  the  difficulty  of  locating  the  enemy. 

'  This  attack  demonstrated  the  immediate  necessity  of  extending 
our  intrenchments  to  the  right,  and,  although  not  covered  by  my 
instructions  (which  were  to  occupy  the  trenches  from  the  bay  to  Calle 
Real,  and  to  avoid  precipitating  an  engagement),  I  ordered  the  First 
Colorado  and  one  battalion  of  the  First  California,  which  occupied 
trenches  at  9  A.M.,  August  ist,  to  extend  the  line  of  trenches  to  the 
Pasay  Road.  The  work  was  begun  by  these  troops,  and  continued 


TERRIBLE  SERVICE  IN  THE  TRENCHES  67 

every  day  by  the  troops  occupying  the  trenches  in  turn,  until  a  strong 
line  was  completed  by  August  1 2th,  about  i ,  200  yards  in  length,  extend 
ing  from  the  bay  to  the  east  side  of  the  Pasay  Road.  Its  left  rested 
on  the  bay,  and  its  right  on  an  extensive  rice  swamp,  practically 
impassable." 

The  right  flank  was  refused,  because  the  only  way  to  cross  a 
smaller  rice  swamp,  crossing  the  line  about  700  yards  from  the  beach, 
was  along  a  crossroad  in  rear  of  the  general  line.  As  finally  com 
pleted  the  works  were  very  strong  in  profile,  being  five  or  six  feet  in 
height  and  eight  to  ten  feet  in  thickness  at  the  base,  strengthened  by 
bags  filled  with  earth. 

"  The  only  material  available  was  black  soil  saturated  with  water, 
and  without  the  bags  this  was  washed  down  and  ruined  in  a  day  by 
the  heavy  and  almost  incessant  rains.  The  construction  of  these 
trenches  was  constantly  interrupted  by  the  enemy's  fire.  They  were 
occupied  by  the  troops  in  succession,  four  battalions  being  usually 
sent  out  for  a  service  of  twenty-four  hours,  and  posted  with  three 
battalions  in  the  trenches  and  one  battalion  in  reserve  along  the 
crossroad  to  Pasay  ;  Cossack  posts  being  sent  out  from  the  latter  to 
guard  the  camp  against  any  possible  surprise  from  the  northeast  and 
east. 

TERRIBLE    SERVICE    IN    THE    TRENCHES. 

"  The  service  in  the  trenches  was  of  the  most  arduous  character, 
the  rain  being  almost  incessant,  and  the  men  having  no  protection 
against  it;  they  were  wet  during  the  entire  twenty-four  hours,  and 
the  mud  was  so  deep  that  the  shoes  were  ruined  and  a  considerable 
number  of  men  rendered  barefooted.  Until  the  notice  of  bombard 
ment  was  given  on  August  7th,  any  exposure  above  or  behind  the 
trenches  promptly  brought  the  enemy's  fire,  so  that  the  men  had  to 
sit  in  the  mud  under  cover  and  keep  awake,  prepared  to  resist  an 
attack,  during  the  entire  tour  of  twenty-four  hours. 

"  After  one  particularly  heavy  rain  a  portion  of  the  trench  con 
tained  two  feet  of  water,  in  which  the  men  had  to  remain.  It  could 
not  be  drained,  as  it  was  lower  than  an  adjoining  rice  swamp,  in  which 
the  water  had  risen  nearly  two  feet,  the  rainfall  being  more  than  four 
inches  in  twenty-four  hours.  These  hardships  were  all  endured  by 


68  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA 

the  men  of  the  different  regiments  in  turn,  with  the  finest  possible 
spirit  and  without  a  murmur  of  complaint. 

"  August  7th  the  notice  of  bombardment,  after  forty-eight  hours, 
or  sooner  if  the  Spanish  fire  continued,  was  served,  and  after  that  date 
not  a  shot  was  fired  on  either  side  until  the  assault  was  made  on 
August  1 3th.  It  was  with  great  difficulty,  and  in  some  cases  not 
without  force,  that  the  insurgents  were  restrained  from  opening  fire 
and  thus  drawing  the  fire  of  the  Spaniards  during  this  period. 

"  Owing  to  the  heavy  storm  and  high  surf  it  was  impossible  to 
communicate  promptly  with  the  division  commander  at  Cavite,  and  I 
received  my  instructions  direct  from  the  Major-General  commanding, 
or  his  staff  officers,  one  of  whom  visited  my  camp  every  day,  and  I 
reported  direct  to  him  in  the  same  manner.  My  instructions  were  to 
occupy  the  insurgent  trenches  near  the  beach,  so  as  to  be  in  good 
position  to  advance  on  Manila  when  ordered,  but  meanwhile  to  avoid 
precipitating  an  engagement,  not  to  waste  ammunition,  and  (after 
August  ist)not  to  return  the  enemy's  fire  unless  convinced  that  he 
had  left  his  trenches  and  was  making  an  attack  in .  force.  These 
instructions  were  given  daily  in  the  most  positive  terms  to  the  officer 
commanding  in  the  trenches,  and  in  the  main  they  were  faithfully 
carried  out. 

AMMUNITION    WAS    WASTED. 

"More  ammunition  than  necessary  was  expended  on  the  nights 
of  August  2d  and  5th,  but  in  both  cases  the  trenches  were  occupied 
by  troops  under  fire  for  the  first  time,  and  in  the  darkness  and  rain 
there  was  ground  to  believe  that  the  heavy  fire  indicated  a  real  attack 
from  outside  the  enemy's  trenches.  The  total  expenditure  of  ammu 
nition  on  our  side  in  the  four  engagements  was  about  150,000  rounds, 
and  by  the  enemy  very  much  more. 

"  After  the  attack  of  July  3ist,  August  ist  I  communicated  by 
signal  with  the  captain  of  the  United  States  steamship  Raleigh, 
anchored  about  3,000  yards  southwest  of  my  camp,  asking  if  he  had 
received  orders  in  regard  to  the  action  of  his  ship  in  case  of  another 
attack  on  my  troops.  He  replied  : 

"  '  Both  Admiral  Dewey  and  General  Merritt  desire  to  avoid  gen 
eral  action  at  present.  If  attack  too  strong  for  you,  we  will  assist 
you,  and  another  vessel  will  come  and  offer  help.' 


SACLOBAN,  ISLAND  OF  LEYTE. 

The  island  of  Leyte  belongs  to  the  Visaynn  group,  and  contains  about  3,000  square  miles,  being  the  eighth  in  size  in  the 
Philippine  Archipelago.     The  finest  quality  of  hemp  comes  from  this  island. 


PAMPANGA,   A  VILLAGE  IN  THE  SUGAR  COUNTRY. 

This  historic  village,  on  the  island  of  Luzon,  is  memorable  for  the  terrible  massacre  of  the  Chinese  by  the  Spaniards  at  this 

point  in  the  early  history  of  the  islands. 


THE  DOWNFALL  OF  MANILA  71 

"In  repeating  this  message,  Lieutenant  Tappan,  commanding 
United  States  steamship  Callao,  anchored  nearer  the  beach,  sent  me  a 
box  of  blue  lights,  and  it  was  agreed  that  if  I  burned  one  of  these  on 
the  beach  the  Raleigh  would  at  once  open  fire  on  the  Spanish  fort." 

General  Greene  issued  this  address  to  the  troops  :  "  Camp 
Dewey,  near  Manila.  The  Brigadier-General  commanding  desires 
to  thank  the  troops  engaged  last  night  for  gallantry  and  skill  displayed 
by  them  in  repelling  such  a  vigorous  attack  by  largely  superior  forces 
of  Spaniards.  Not  an  inch  of  ground  was  yielded  by  the  Tenth 
Pennsylvania  Infantry  and  Utah  Artillery  stationed  in  the  trenches. 
A  battalion  of  the  Third  Artillery  and  First  Regiment  California 
Infantry  moved  forward  to  their  support  through  a  galling  fire  with 
the  utmost  intrepidity.  The  courage  and  steadiness  shown  by  all  in 
their  first  engagement  is  worthy  of  the  highest  commendation." 

THE    DOWNFALL    OF    MANILA. 

Manila  fell  before  American  arms  on  August  I3th.  The  com 
bined  land  and  naval  forces  took  the  city  with  little  or  no  opposition. 
The  official  story  of  its  downfall  is  told  in  the  following  dispatch 
sent  by  General  Merritt  to  the  War  Department: 

"  MANILA,  August  i3th. — On  the  7th  instant  Admiral  Dewey 
joined  me  in  forty-eight-hour  notification  to  Spanish  commander  to 
remove  non-combatants  from  city.  Same  date  reply  received,  ex 
pressing  thanks  for  humane  sentiments,  and  stating  Spanish  without 
places  for  refuge  for  non-combatants  now  within  walled  towns. 

"On  Qth  instant  sent  joint  note,  inviting  attention  to  suffering  in 
store  for  sick  and  non-combatants  in  case  it  became  our  duty  to 
reduce  the  defences,  also  setting  forth  hopeless  condition  of  Spanish 
forces,  surrounded  on  all  sides,  fleet  in  front,  no  prospect  of  reinforce 
ments,  and  demanded  surrender  as  due  to  every  consideration  of 
humanity.  Same  date  received  reply,  admitting  their  situation,  but 
stating  Council  of  Defence  declares  request  for  surrender  cannot  be 
granted,  but  offered  to  consult  government,  if  time  was  granted  neces 
sary  for  communication  via  Hong  Kong.  Joint  note  in  reply 
declining. 

"  On  the  1 3th  joined  with  navy  in  attack  with  following  results  : 
After  about  half  hour's  accurate  shelling  of  Spanish  lines,  McArthur's 


72  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA 

Brigade  on  right  and  Greene's  on  left  center  under  Anderson  made 
vigorous  attack  and  carried  Spanish  works.  Loss  not  accurately 
known — about  50  in  all.  Behavior  of  troops  excellent  ;  co-operation 
of  the  navy  most  valuable.  Troops  advanced  rapidly  on  walled  city, 
upon  which  white  flag  shown  and  town  capitulated.  Troops  occupy 
Malate,  Bynondo,  walled  city  San  Miguel.  All  important  centers  pro 
tected.  Insurgents  kept  out.  No  disorder  or  pillage." 

The  fleet  under  Admiral  Dewey  opened  the  engagement  at  9.30 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  sudden  cloud  of  smoke,  green  and  white, 
against  the  stormy  sky  completely  hid  the  Olympia,  and  a  shell 
screamed  across  two  miles  of  turbulent  water,  and  burst  near  the 
Spanish  fort  at  Malate.  Then  the  Petrel  and  Raleigh  and  the  active 
little  Callao  opened  a  rapid  fire  directed  toward  the  shore  end  of  the 
intrenchments.  The  Spaniards  replied  feebly. 

Less  than  half  an  hour  after  the  bombardment  began,  General 
Greene  reported  that  it  was  possible  to  advance.  Thereupon  six 
companies  of  the  Colorado  regiment  leaped  over  their  breastwork, 
dashed  into  the  swamp  and  opened  volleys  within  300  yards  of  the 
Spanish  lines.  The  land  forces  under  General  Anderson  advanced 
from  the  South,  General  Greene  in  command  of  the  First  Brigade 
held  the  left  wing,  General  McArthur  of  the  Second  Brigade  was  on 
the  right  of  the  line  and  covered  two  miles. 

The  Spanish  made  a  hard  fight  against  the  right  and  left  wings, 
but  after  a  while  wrere  forced  to  retreat  inside  the  Malate  fort,  from 
which  they  were  driven  by  the  fire  from  the  ships.  The  American 
troops  speedily  captured  the  fort.  Our  land  forces  followed  closely 
upon  the  retreating  Spaniards.  The  Second  Battalion  of  the  First 
California  headed  the  advance  on  the  city.  A  company  of  the  First 
Nebraska  did  effective  work  with  Gatling  guns. 

TOOK    A    BLOCKHOUSE    AT    PISTOL'S    POINT. 

The  Astor  Battery  gave  a  splendid  example  of  daring  in  this 
assault.  At  the  call  of  General  McArthur,  Captain  Peyton  C.  March 
volunteered  to  dislodge  some  Spanish  soldiers  occupying  a  block 
house  which  controlled  the  roads  at  Passay.  Fifteen  or  more  of  his 
men  accompanied  him,  armed  only  with  pistols,  in  the  rush  up  the 
hill  in  the  face  of  deadly  Spanish  fire.  Of  these  fifteen  but  three, 


KEPT  THE  INSURGENTS  OUT  73 

including  Captain  March,  remained  when  the  Spaniards  fled  from  the 
blockhouse.  All  the  others  had  been  either  killed  or  wounded  in  the 
charge.  It  was  a  costly  and  magnificent  show  of  bravery,  but  it 
served  the  purpose,  and  practically  ended  the  fighting  for  the  day. 
General  Greene,  in  his  report  of  the  battle,  says  : 
"  Captain  Grove  and  Lieutenant  Means,  of  the  First  Colorado, 
had  been  particularly  active  in  this  work  and  fearless  in  penetrating 
beyond  our  lines  and  close  to  those  of  the  enemy.  As  the  time  for 
attack  approached,  these  officers  made  a  careful  examination  of  the 
ground  between  our  trenches  and  Fort  San  Antonio  de  Abad,  and, 
finally,  on  August  iith,  Major  J.  F.  Bell,  United  States  Volunteer 
Engineers,  tested  the  creek  in  front  of  this  fort  and  ascertained  not 
only  that  it  was  fordable,  but  the  exact  width  of  the  ford  at  the 
beach,  and  actually  swam  in  the  bay  to  a  point  from  which  he  could 
examine  the  Spanish  line  from  the  rear.  With  the  information  thus 
obtained  it  was  possible  to  plan  the  attack  intelligently.  The  posi 
tion  assigned  to  my  brigade  extended  from  the  beach  to  the  small 
rice  swamp,  a  front  of  about  700  yards. 

0  After  the  sharp  skirmish  on  the  second  line  of  defence  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  after  Greene's  brigade  moved  through  Malate,  meet 
ing  a  shuffling  foe,  the  open  space  at  the  Luneta,  just  south  of  the 
walled  city,  was  reached  about  i  P.M.  A  white  flag  was  flying  at  the 
southwest  bastion,  and  I  rode  forward  to  meet  it  under  a  heavy  fire 
from  out  right  and  rear  on  the  Paco  Road. 

KEPT    THE    INSURGENTS    OUT. 

"  At  the  bastion  I  was  informed  that  officers  representing  Gen 
eral  Merritt  and  Admiral  Dewey  were  on  their  way  ashore  to  receive 
the  surrender,  and  I  therefore  turned  back  to  the  Paco  Road.  The 
firing  ceased  at  this  time,  and  on  reaching  this  road  I  found  nearly 
1,000  Spanish  troops  who  had  retreated  from  Santa  Ana  through 
Paco,  and  coming  up  the  Paco  Road  had  been  firing  on  our  flank.  I 
held  the  commanding  officers,  but  ordered  these  troops  to  march  into 
the  walled  city.  At  this  point  the  California  regiment  a  short  time 
before  had  met  some  insurgents  who  had  fired  at  the  Spaniards  on 
the  walls,  and  the  latter  in  returning  the  fire  had  caused  a  loss  in  the 
California  regiment  of  i  killed  and  2  wounded. 


74  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA 

"  My  instructions  were  to  march  past  the  walled  city  on  its  sur 
render,  cross  the  bridge,  occupy  the  city  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Pasig,  and  protect  lives  and  property  there.  While  the  white  flag 
was  flying  on  the  walls  yet,  very  sharp  firing  had  just  taken  place  out 
side,  and  there  were  from  5,000  to  6,000  men  on  the  walls,  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  only  a  few  yards  from  us.  I  did  not  feel  justified  in 
leaving  this  force  in  my  rear  until  the  surrender  was  clearly  estab 
lished,  and  I  therefore  halted  and  assembled  my  force,  prepared  to 
force  the  gates  if  there  was  any  more  firing.  The  Eighteenth  Infan 
try  and  First  California  were  sent  forward  to  hold  the  bridges,  a  few 
yards  ahead,  but  the  Second  Battalion,  Third  Artillery,  First  Ne 
braska,  Tenth  Pennsylvania  and  First  Colorado  were  all  assembled  at 
this  point.  While  this  was  being  done,  I  received  a  note  from  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Whittier,  of  General  Merritt's  staff,  written  from  the 
Captain-General's  office  within  the  walls,  asking  me  to  stop  the 
firing  outside,  as  negotiations  for  surrender  were  in  progress. 

"  I  then  returned  to  the  troops  outside  the  walls  and  sent  Cap 
tain  Birkhimer's  battalion  of  the  Third  Artillery  down  the  Paco  road 
to  prevent  any  insurgents  from  entering.  Feeling  satisfied  that  there 
would  be  no  attack  from  the  Spanish  troops  lining  the  walls,  I  put 
the  regiments  in  motion  toward  the  bridges,  brushing  aside  a  consid 
erable  force  of  insurgents  who  had  penetrated  the  city  from  the  direc 
tion  of  Paco,  and  were  in  the  main  street  with  their  flag,  expecting  to 
march  into  the  walled  city  and  plant  it  on  the  walls.  After  crossing 
the  bridges  the  Eighteenth  United  States  Infantry  was  posted  to 
patrol  the  principal  streets  near  the  bridge,  the  First  California  was 
sent  up  the  Pasig  to  occupy  Quiapo,  San  Miguel  and  Malacanan,  and 
with  the  First  Nebraska  I  marched  down  the  river  to  the  captain  of 
the  Port's  office,  where  I  ordered  the  Spanish  flag  hauled  down  and 
the  American  flag  raised  in  its  place. 

"The  resistance  encountered  on  the  1 3th  was  much  less  than 
anticipated  and  planned  for,  but  had  the  resistance  been  greater,  the 
result  would  have  been  the  same,  only  the  loss  would  have  been 
greater.  Fortunately,  the  great  result  of  capturing  this  city,  the  seat 
of  Spanish  power  in  the  East  for  more  than  three  hundred  years,  was 
accomplished  with  a  loss  of  life  comparatively  insignificant." 


McARTHUR  PRAISES  HIS  MEN  75 

General  McArthur  is  strong  in  his  expression  of  approval  of  heroic 
work.  In  his  report  he  says: 

"  The  combat  of  Singalong  can  hardly  be  classified  as  a  great  mili 
tary  event,  but  the  involved  terrene  and  the  prolonged  resistance 
created  a  very  trying  situation,  and  afforded  an  unusual  scope  for  the 
display  of  military  qualities  by  a  large  number  of  individuals. 

"  The  invincible  composure  of  Colonel  Ovenshine,  during  an 
exposure  in  dangerous  space  for  more  than  an  hour,  was  conspicuous 
and  very  inspiring  to  the  troops  ;  and  the  efficient  manner  in  which 
he  took  advantage  of  opportunities  as  they  arose  during  the  varying 
aspects  of  the  fight  was  of  great  practical  value  in  determining  the 
result. 

"  The  cool,  determined  and  sustained  efforts  of  Colonel  Reeve, 
of  the  Thirteenth  Minnesota,  contributed  very  materially  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  discipline  and  marked  efficiency  of  his  regi 
ment. 

"  The  brilliant  manner  in  which  Lieutenant  March  accepted  and 
discharged  the  responsible  and  dangerous  duties  of  the  day,  and  the 
pertinacity  with  which,  assisted  by  his  officers  and  men,  he  carried 
his  guns  over  all  obstacles  to  the  very  front  of  the  firing  line,  was  an 
exceptional  display  of  warlike  skill  and  judgment,  indicating  the 
existence  of  many  of  the  best  qualifications  for  high  command  in 
battle. 

"  The  gallant  manner  in  which  Captain  Sawtelle,  brigade  quar 
termaster,  volunteered  to  join  the  advance  party  in  the  rush,  volun 
teered  to  command  a  firing  line,  for  a  time  without  an  officer,  and 
again  volunteered  to  lead  a  scout  to  ascertain  the  presence  or  absence 
of  the  enemy  in  the  blockhouse,  was  a  fine  display  of  personal 
intrepidity. 

"  The  efficient,  fearless,  and  intelligent  manner  in  which  Lieu 
tenant  Kernan,  Twenty-first  United  States  Infantry,  Acting  Assist 
ant  Adjutant-General  of  the  brigade  and  Second  Lieutenant  Whit- 
worth,  Eighteenth  United  States  Infantry,  aid,  executed  a  series  of 
dangerous  and  difficult  orders,  was  a  fine  exemplification  of  stall  work 
under  fire. 

"The  splendid  bravery  of  Captains  Bjornstad  and  Seebach,  and 
Lieutenant  Lackore,  of  the  Thirteenth  Minnesota,  all  wounded,  and, 


;6  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA 

finally,  the  work  of  the  soldiers  of  the  first  firing  line,  too,  all  went  to 
make  up  a  rapid  succession  of  individual  actions  of  unusual  merit." 

THE    SPANIARDS    HOIST    THE    WHITE    FLAG. 

At  1 1.30  A.M.  the  Spaniards  hoisted  the  white  flag.  A  conference 
to  arrange  the  terms  of  surrender  was  held  at  the  palace  of  the  Gov 
ernor-General  at  4  P.M.  General  Jandenes  agreed  to  surrender, 
and  the  American  flag  was  raised  at  5.30  P.M.  by  Lieutenant  Brumby, 
of  the  Olympia.  The  total  number  of  Spanish  soldiers  who  surren 
dered  exceeded  8,000,  and  there  was  an  unlimited  supply  of  arms  and 
ammunition.  In  the  attack  5  were  killed  and  43  injured. 

The  terms  of  capitulation,  as  given  in  General  Merritt's  report, 
were  as  follows  : 

"  The  undersigned  having  been  appointed  a  commission  to  deter 
mine  the  details  of  the  capitulation  of  the  city  and  defences  of  Manila 
and  its  suburbs  and  the  Spanish  forces  stationed  therein,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  agreement  entered  into  the  previous  day  by  General 
Wesley  Merritt,  United  States  Army,  American  Commander-in-Chief 
in  the  Philippines,  and  His  Excellency  Don  Fermin  Jandenes,  acting 
General-in-Chief  of  the  Spanish  Army  in  the  Philippines,  have  agreed 
upon  the  following  : 

"  i.  The  Spanish  troops,  European  and  native,  capitulate  with 
the  city  and  its  defences,  with  all  the  honors  of  war,  depositing  their 
arms  in  the  places  designed  by  the  authorities  of  the  United  States, 
and  remaining  in  the  quarters  designated  and  under  the  orders  of 
their  officers,  and  subject  to  the  control  of  the  aforesaid  United  States 
authorities,  until  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  two 
belligerent  nations.  All  persons  included  in  the  capitulation  remain 
at  liberty,  the  officers  remaining  in  their  respective  homes,  which 
shall  be  respected  as  long  as  they  observe  the  regulations  prescribed 
for  their  government  and  the  laws  in  force. 

"  2.  Officers  shall  retain  their  side  arms,  horses  and  private  prop 
erty.  All  public  horses  and  public  property  of  all  kinds  shall  be  turned 
over  to  staff  officers  designated  by  the  United  States. 

"  3.  Complete  returns  in  duplicate  of  men  by  organization,  and 
full  lists  of  public  property  and  stores  shall  be  rendered  to  the  United 
States  within  ten  days  from  this  date. 


PEACE  77 

"4.  All  questions  relating  to  the  repatriation  of  officers  and  men 
of  the  Spanish  forces  and  of  their  families,  and  of  the  expenses 
which  said  repatriation  may  occasion,  shall  be  referred  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  at  Washington. 

"  Spanish  families  may  leave  Manila  at  any  time  convenient  to 
them. 

"The  return  of  the  arms  surrendered  by  the  Spanish  forces  shall 
take  place  when  they  evacuate  the  city,  or  when  the  American  army 
evacuates. 

"  5.  Officers  and  men  included  in  the  capitulation  shall  be  sup 
plied  by  the  United  States,  according  to  their  rank,  with  rations  and 
necessary  aid  as  though  they  were  prisoners  of  war,  until  the  conclu 
sion  of  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  An 
the  funds  in  the  Spanish  treasury  and  all  other  public  funds  shall  be 
turned  over  to  the  authorities  of  the  United  States. 

"6.  This  city,  its  inhabitants,  its  churches  and  religious  wor 
ship,  its  educational  establishments,  and  its  private  property  of  all 
descriptions  are  placed  under  the  special  safeguard  of  the  faith  and 
honor  of  the  American  Army. 

F.  V.  GREENE,  NICHOLAS  DE  LA  PETRA, 

Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers,  U.  S.  A.  Auditor-General  Excmo. 

B.  P.  LAMBERTON,  CARLOS, 

Captain,  United  States  Navy.  Coronel  de  Ingenieros. 

CHARLES  A.  WHITTIER,  JOSE, 

Lieut. -Colonel  and  Inspector-General.  Coronel  de  Estado  Major." 

E.  H.  CROWDER, 
Lieut.  -Colonel  and  Judge-Advocate. 

PEACE. 

While  the  battle  was  planned,  overtures  had  been  made  through 
the  mediation  of  the  French  Ambassador  at  Washington,  on  behalf 
of  the  Spanish  Government  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  to  culmi 
nate  in  a  treaty  of  peace.  The  peace  protocol  was  signed  at  4.23  P.M. 
on  Friday,  August  I2th.  The  sixth  article  of  the  protocol  was  as 
follows:  "On  the  signing  of  the  protocol  hostilities  will  be  sus 
pended,  and  notice  to  that  effect  will  be  given  as  soon  as  possible  by 
each  government  to  the  commander  of  its  military  and  naval  forces." 


78  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  MANILA 

As  the  Manila  cable  had  been  cut  and  was  not  in  use,  it  was 
impossible  to  communicate  the  news  of  peace  to  Admiral  Dewey  or 
General  Merritt.  Consequently  they  were  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
peace  had  been  declared  when  they  assailed  and  took  Manila.  Allow 
ing  for  difference  in  time,  the  surrender  of  Manila  took  place  a  few 
hours  after  the  signing  of  the  peace  protocol.  This  proved  the  turn 
ing  point  of  most  of  the  arguments  which  took  place  later,  when  the 
Peace  Commissioners  met  together  at  Paris  to  discuss  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  General  Merritt  ruled  supreme  in  the 
captured  city,  keeping  out  insurgents  and  protecting  people  and 
property. 


GENERAL  AGUINALDO 

This  is  the  Philippine  chief  as  he  appeared  in  military  unilorm  in  February,  1899. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Trouble  With  Aguinaldo 

A  Face-to-Face  View  of  the  Insurgent  Leader. — A  Man  of  Craft  and  Cunning. — Sold 
out  His  Own  People. — Fought  against  Uncle  Sam. — Insurgents  Swept  into  the 
Sea. — Immense  Sacrifice  of  Life  and  Property. — The  Flight  of  Agoncillo  to 
Canada. — The  Oregon  Sent  for  by  Dewey  "for  Political  Reasons." — Germany 
Takes  a  Friendly  Step. — Emperor  William  Removes  All  His  Warships  from  Manila 
Bay,  and  Places  German  Interests  in  American  Hands. 

THE  fighting  in  the  Philippines  did  not  end  with  the  downfall  of 
Manila  or  the  signing  of  the  Peace  treaty.  The  insurgents 
had  to  be  reckoned  with.  From  the  beginning  they  proved 
even  harder  to  handle  than  the  Spanish.  Inflated  with  victory,  Gen 
eral  Aguinaldo,  the  insurgent  leader,  proclaimed  himself  Dictator  of 
the  islands,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  his  followers  were  held  in 
check  by  the  American  forces  without  open  hostility.  It  became  evi 
dent  that  we  should  have  trouble  with  the  insurgents.  That  it  would 
be  as  serious  as  after-events  proved,  was  not  imagined. 

On  June  i3th  Aguinaldo  issued  a  "declaration  of  indepen 
dence,"  of  which  the  following  is  a  rough  translation  : 

"  To  the  district  headmen  and  village  headmen  of  the  prov 
ince  of  Bulacan,  from  the  Political  Military  Governor  of  this  prov 
ince,  whose  headquarters  are  now  transferred  to  the  town  of  San 
Francisco  de  Malabon,  and  combined  with  the  section  under  his 
orders  at  Bacoor,  Binacayan,  Imus,  Novaleta,  Salinas  and  Cavite 
Viejo.  They  only  require  to  be  combined  with  the  other  forces  in 
Indiang  and  Silang,  near  by,  and  then  our  troops  will  be  sent  for 
ward,  and  within  a  few  days  will  be  found  in  possession  of  almost 
the  whole  province,  which,  being  maritime,  will  be  found  in  a  position 
to  proclaim  effectively  our  independence.  This  proclamation  will  not 
be  long  deferred,  because  the  ultimate  object  of  this  government  will 
thus  be  best  attained  notwithstanding  the  suggestions  of  some  of  our 
principal  associates.  It  is  better  and  more  convenient  to  select  as 

Si 


82  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

the  place  on  account  of  its  being  near  the  sea,  the  township  of  Cavite 
Viejo,  which  is  an  old  port,  originally  the  town  of  Cavite. 

"  Wherefore  I  decree  as  follows  : 

''The  1 2th  day  of  this  month  is  fixed  for  the  declaration  of  the 
independence  of  this  our  beloved  country,  in  this  township  of  Cavite 
Viejo,  for  the  due  and  proper  solemnization  of  which  auspicious 
event  there  should  be  on  the  day  named  an  assemblage  of  all  dis 
trict  headmen  and  commanders  of  our  forces,  and  through  the  proper 
representatives  there  should  be  a  notification  issued  for  the  purpose 
of  inviting  the  attendance  of  all  who  have  in  any  way  assisted  in  the 
good  work,  such,  for  example,  as  the  distinguished  Admiral  of  the 
American  squadron  and  his  commanders  and  officers,  to  all  of  whom, 
as  having  lent  invaluable  aid  in  the  glorious  work,  a  courteous  invita 
tion  will  be  sent.  After  the  formal  reading  of  the  declaration,  the 
same  will  be  signed  by  all  who  wish  to  give  support  thereto. 

u  Given  under  our  hand  and  seal  at  Cavite  this  Qth  day  of  June, 
1898.  EMILIO  AGUINALDO, 

Dictator  of  the  Philippines." 

Various  congresses  were  convened  within  the  succeeding  months, 
and  Aguinaldo  thought  it  wiser  to  change  his  title  from  that  of  Dic 
tator  to  President  of  the  Revolutionary  Government  of  the  Filipinos. 
He  experienced  some  trouble  in  securing  a  suitable  cabinet,  and  the 
list  was  changed  several  times.  The  following  is  the  latest  make-up 
of  the  Cabinet :  President  of  the  Cabinet  and  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Mabini ;  Minister  of  the  Interior,  Teodoro  Sandica,  civil 
engineer,  educated  in  England  and  Belgium,  and  taken  to  Manila 
from  Hong  Kong  by  Admiral  Dewey ;  Minister  of  War,  General 
Baldomero  Aguinaldo,  a  cousin  of  Aguinaldo,  the  President  of 
the  so-called  Filipino  Government,  and  a  leader  of  the  insurrection 
from  the  beginning,  said  to  be  a  large  landowner  of  Cavite ;  Minister 
of  Finance,  General  Trias,  a  close  ally  of  Aguinaldo  ;  Minister  of 
Public  Works,  Gregorio  Gonzaga,  a  lawyer,  formerly  the  Filipino 
Agent  at  Hong  Kong,  and  formerly  Spanish  Attorney-General  in 
Visayas. 

The  following  description  of  Aguinaldo  by  Joseph  L.  Stickney, 
who  was  with  Admiral  Dewey  during  the  battle  of  May  ist  and 


A  PEN  PICTURE  OF  AGUINALDO  83 

landed  later,  gives  a  good  view  of  the  insurgent  leader  and  his  char 
acter.  He  says : 

"  Having  been  on  terms  of  friendly  association  with  General 
Aguinaldo  and  his  staff  during  the  last  half  of  May  and  the  whole 
of  June,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  get  some  idea  of  the  man  who  is 
to-day  one  of  the  most  important  individual  factors  in  our  dealings 
with  the  Filipinos. 

"  Emilio  Aguinaldo,  now  about  29  years  old,  is  a  man  of  an 
intelligence  far  beyond  that  of  most  of  his  people.  He  comes  of  a 
good  family  in  the  province  of  Cavite,  near  Manila,  where  he  was 
educated  and  where  he  entered  the  bar.  He  joined  the  insurgents 
immediately  after  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  in  the  latter  part  of 
1896,  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  execution  of  Dr.  Rizal  that  he 
became  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolt. 

"  The  blockade  maintained  by  the  Spanish  squadron  in  Philip 
pine  waters  against  the  importation  of  arms  for  the  insurgents  grad 
ually  drove  the  Filipinos  to  the  wall,  and  in  December,  1897,  tne 
celebrated  *  pacification  '  of  the  islands  was  negotiated,  the  go-between 
being  Senor  Pedro  Paterno,  director  of  the  Manila  museum,  a  Fil 
ipino,  who  had  remained  at  least  passively  loyal  to  the  Spaniards. 
The  Filipino  junta  at  this  time  was  composed  of  Emilio  Aguinaldo, 
who  exercised  such  executive  powers  as  were  possible  to  so  feeble  an 
organization;  Senor  Artacho,  Home  Secretary;  Senor  Montenogro, 
Foreign  Secretary ;  Vito  Bilarmino,  War  Secretary  ;  and  Baldomero 
Aguinaldo,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

"The  so-called  'pacification'  consisted  in  a  purchase  of  the 
insurgent  leaders  for  the  sum  of  $800,000  (Mexican),  equal  to  about 
$400,000  in  gold.  Aguinaldo  and  his  associates  agreed  to  surrender 
all  the  arms  in  the  possession  of  the  natives  and  to  quit  the  archi* 
pelago,  remaining  away  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Spanish  government, 
and  to  use  their  utmost  influence  to  disband  and  disarm  all  the  insur 
gent  forces. 

"  Aguinaldo  was  to  go  to  Hong  Kong  to  receive  the  first  install' 
ment  of  the  Spanish  money,  amounting  to  $400,000  (Mexican),  and 
he  was  then  to  cable  to  Artacho,  who  surrendered  himself  to  the 
Captain-General  as  a  hostage.  On  receiving  Aguinaldo's  cable  mes 
sage  that  the  money  had  been  paid,  Artacho  was  to  dissolve  the 


84  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

insurgent  organization,  disband  the  troops  and  give  up  their  arms. 
This  part  of  the  programme  was  carried  out  in  December,  1897,  or 
the  early  part  of  January,  1898. 

"  The  cash  payment  was  divided  among  the  junta  and  Aguinaldo 
started  for  Paris.  He  had  gone  no  farther  than  Singapore,  however, 
when  the  destruction  of  the  Maine  in  Havana  harbor  brought  on  an 
acute  tension  of  the  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Spain, 
and  he  remained  in  Singapore  to  see  whether  the  Filipinos  might  not 
profit  by  Spain's  difficulties. 

"  General  Aguinaldo  sailed  from  Hong  Kong  for  Manila  Bay  in 
the  dispatch  boat  McCullock,  May  17,  1898.  He  landed  in  Cavite  on 
the  1 9th.  As  I  accompanied  him  from  Hong  Kong,  and  was  able  to 
be  of  some  service  to  him,  I  was  received  at  his  headquarters  with 
great  cordiality  until  after  the  arrival  of  the  first  detachment  of 
troops.  About  that  time  Aguinaldo  began  to  think  he  was  a  great 
man,  and  as  he  was  tiresome  and  often  ridiculous  when  trying  to  live 
up  to  his  own  estimate  of  himself,  I  saw  less  and  less  of  him. 

"  He  took  possession  of  one  of  the  numerous  abandoned  houses 
in  Cavite,  and  at  first  he  acted  with  good  judgment  and  simplicity. 
In  a  day  or  two  the  natives  flocked  into  Cavite  in  droves,  and  as  a 
small  steamer  arrived  from  Hong  Kong,  laden  with  arms  and  ammu 
nition,  in  a  week  there  were  more  than  1,000  men  ready  to  take  the 
field  against  the  Spaniards  in  Cavite  Province. 

"  On  the  night  of  May  26th  Aguinaldo  sent  600  men  across  the 
Bay  of  Bacoor  in  canoes.  This  force  was  attacked  by  300  Spaniards 
on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  and  all  the  latter  were  captured.  Sharp 
and  continuous  fighting  occurred  for  a  week,  during  which — after 
having  succeeded  in  witnessing  the  fighting  for  two  days  without 
Aguinaldo's  consent  or  assistance — I  obtained  from  him  a  guide  and 
a  passport  which  enabled  me  to  go  into  battle  with  more  comfort  and 
less  risk. 

"  When  Manila  was  fairly  invested  by  the  insurgents,  Aguinaldo's 
ideas  of  his  own  importance  and  power  underwent  a  very  apparent 
expansion.  He  had  been  obliged  to  quit  Cavite,  as  our  troops  needed 
the  town  ;  but  he  moved  his  headquarters  to  Bacoor,  and  there  he 
was  as  inaccessible  to  ordinary  mortals  as  if  he  had  been  the  Emperor 
of  China. 


BELIEVED  TO  BEAR  A   CHARMED  LIFE  85 

"  Anyone  who  expects  Aguinaldo  to  make  gross  blunders  in 
dealing  with  our  people  will  probably  be  disappointed.  He  is  an 
exceptionally  shrewd  man.  He  is  of  the  distinctly  Japanese  type  in 
appearance,  having  the  broad,  square  forehead,  which  betokens  intel 
lect,  re-enforced  by  the  bumps  in  the  back  of  his  head,  which  indicate 
the  endurance  and  persistence  of  a  strong  animalism. 

"  He  has  rather  large  eyes,  set  wide  apart,  and  a  straight  but 
sensual  nose.  His  lips  are  full,  and  his  chin  round  and  not  deter 
mined.  His  height  is  about  5  feet  4  inches,  and  he  carries  himself 
very  erect.  His  color  is  a  light  chocolate.  He  speaks  and  writes 
Spanish  and  Tagalog,  the  native  language  of  the  island  of  Luzon. 
He  understands  English  fairly  well,  though  he  always  made  a  pre 
tense  of  not  being  able  to  speak  or  comprehend  it.  I  had  reason  for 
believing  that  he  could  have  held  all  his  conversation  with  us  in  Eng 
lish  without  an  interpreter  if  he  had  wished  to  do  so." 

BELIEVED    TO    BEAR    A    CHARMED    LIFE. 

One  of  Aguinaldo's  great  holds  over  the  insurgents  was  through 
their  superstition.  They  believed  that  he  bore  a  charmed  life.  The 
Spaniards  had  often  placed  large  sums  on  his  head,  at  one  time 
$25,000  having  been  offered  for  him  dead  or  alive.  He  managed, 
however,  to  escape  both  capture  from  the  Spanish  and  treachery  from 
his  own  men.  At  one  time  some  of  the  insurgents,  who  were  envi 
ous  of  his  power,  poisoned  the  food  which  was  to  have  been  given 
him  at  dinner.  In  some  lucky  way,  however,  Aguinaldo  happened 
not  to  taste  the  meal,  and  he  escaped  what  would  have  otherwise  been 
certain  death. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  a  visit  to  Aguinaldo's  head 
quarters  at  Cavite,  once  the  home  of  a  rich  native,  is  given :  "  The 
house  is  broad,  low,  roomy,  and  typically  Spanish.  There  is  a  paved 
court  at  the  street  entrance,  and,  while  Aguinaldo  occupied  it,  a  guard 
of  insurgents  lined  it  on  either  side.  They  would  come  to  present 
arms  as  you  passed  by,  and  good  form  called  for  a  salute  in  return.  A 
stairway  leads  from  the  court,  and  the  landing  at  the  top  is  large,  and 
makes  a  good  ante-chamber. 

Here  stand  guards  in  uniforms  of  blue.     There  is  little  delay, 

the  summons  to  enter  the  reception-room  comes  quickly.    Aguin- 


86  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

aldo  comes  in,  extends  his  hand,  and  then  motions  the  visitor  to  a 
seat.  He  wears  a  spotless  suit  of  white  linen,  a  white  shirt  with 
well-polished  front,  a  high  collar  and  a  black  cravat  tied  in  a  bow, 
and  red  velvet  slippers  embroidered  in  gold.  At  first  sight  you 
would  take  him  for  a  Japanese  student.  It  takes  a  long  stretch  of 
the  imagination  to  believe  that  this  youthful-looking  man  in  white  is 
a  leader  of  a  large  force  of  warlike  people. 

In  his  office  he  has  a  modern  desk,  backed  with  a  beveled  edge 
mirror  that  came  from  Europe,  a  couple  of  large,  strong  iron  boxes, 
an  abundance  of  easy  chairs,  an  old  grand  piano,  and  a  large  hat- 
rack  of  fanciful  design.  The  only  signs  of  war  were  the  ends  of 
sword  chains  that  peeped  through  holes  in  the  coats  of  the  officers 
who  were  with  him. 

Such  was  the  man  with  whom  the  American  commanders  had  to 
deal, — a  man  who  sold  out  his  own  countrymen,  and,  because  the  full 
price  of  their  slavery  had  not  been  paid  to  him,  he  returned  from  his 
voluntary  exile  and  again  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  people  he 
had  betrayed.  There  is  little  wonder  that  the  American  commanders 
viewed  him  with  suspicion  and  checked  his  onward  march. 

While  the  peace  conference  was  being  held  at  Paris  to  discuss 
the  terms  of  a  treaty,  General  Merritt  was  present  to  consult  with 
the  American  members  of  the  commission  on  the  subject  of  the  situa 
tion  in  the  Philippines.  General  Otis  was  ordered  to  replace  him  in 
control  of  the  island.  The  situation  which  confronted  General  Otis 
was  not  a  pleasant  one,  but  no  serious  outbreak  occurred  for  some 
time. 

Toward  the  end  of  December,  however,  Aguinaldo  assumed  an 
attitude  of  open  defiance  against  American  arms.  He  ensconsced 
himself  at  Malloas,  about  twenty  miles  from  Manila,  and  made  that 
the  seat  of  the  so-called  Revolutionary  Government.  He  began  to 
run  things  in  a  high-handed  manner,  and  became  even  more  despotic 
and  overbearing  toward  his  own  people  than  the  Spaniards  ever  were. 
In  the  interior  cities,  controlled  by  the  insurgents,  he  levied  taxes 
upon  the  natives  much  more  excessive  than  any  exacted  by  the  old 
rulers  of  the  islands. 

It  became  evident  to  General  Otis  that  something  had  to  be 
done.  The  insurgents  were  inflamed  by  reports  sent  to  them  from 


THE  ATTACK  OF  THE  INSURGENTS  87 

the  United  States  by  Agoncillo,  who  had  been  sent  to  this  country 
by  the  Junta  of  the  Filipinos  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  legislation  here. 
The  behavior  of  this  envoy  of  the  Philippine  insurgents  was  such 
that  it  was  deemed  wise  to  place  secret  service  agents  on  his  track. 
It  was  found  that  he  and  other  Filipinos  in  this  country  were  plotting 
against  our  Government,  consequently  the  watch  kept  upon  him  was 
made  so  keen  that  Agoncillo  fled  for  Canada,  fearing  arrest. 

THE    ATTACK    OF    THE    INSURGENTS. 

About  the  same  time  that  he  fled,  the  news  was  cabled  across  the 
sea  that  the  Filipinos  had  attacked  Manila,  and  that  on  the  5th  of 
February  a  desperate  battle  had  been  waged,  in  which  the  insurgents 
were  utterly  routed  and  lost  nearly  2,000  men. 

The  story  of  the  battle,  as  briefly  told  in  the  official  cablegram 
of  General  Otis,  is  as  follows  : — "  Adjutant-General  :  Insurgents  in 
large  force  opened  attack  on  our  outer  lines  at  8.45  last  evening; 
renewed  attack  several  times  during  night ;  at  4  o'clock  this  morning 
entire  line  engaged ;  all  attacks  repulsed ;  at  daybreak  advanced 
against  insurgents,  and  have  driven  them  beyond  the  lines  they 
formerly  occupied,  capturing  several  villages  and  their  defence  works  ; 
insurgents'  loss  in  dead  and  wounded  large  ;  our  own  casualties  thus 
far  estimated  at  175  ;  very  few  fatal.  Troops  enthusiastic  and  acting 
fearlessly.  Very  splendid  execution  on  flanks  of  enemy  ;  city  held  in 
check,  and  absolute  quiet  prevails;  insurgents  have  secured  a  good 
many  Mauser  rifles,  a  few  field  pieces,  and  quick-firing  guns,  with 
ammunition,  during  last  month." 

In  another  dispatch  General  Otis  states  that  our  casualities 
aggregate  250.  .  He  buried  500  of  insurgent  dead  and  held  500 
prisoners.  Their  total  loss  was  4.000. 

The  fighting  was  not  the  result  of  the  aggression  on  the  part  of 
the  Americans,  but  was  precipitated  by  the  action  of  two  native 
soldiers  who  refused  to  obey  the  order  of  a  sentry  who  challenged 
them  as  they  attempted  to  pass  his  post.  These  two  natives  advanced 
to  the  outpost  of  the  First  Nebraska  Regiment,  stationed  to  the 
northeast  of  Manila.  The  sentry  ordered  them  to  halt,  but  they 
insolently  refused  to  do  so.  He  called  upon  them  again,  and  as  they 
paid  no  attention  to  his  order,  he  leveled  his  rifle  and  fired  upon  them. 


88  7 HE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

No  sooner  had  the  shot  been  fired  than  the  Filipinos,  who  were 
occupying  block-house  No.  7,  fired  a  signal  for  a  general  attack  upon 
the  Americans.  Immediately  the  insurgents  moved  against  the 
American  troops,  the  Nebraska  Regiment  being  the  first  to  meet  the 
attack.  It  was  evident  that  the  insurgents  expected  to  take  our 
troops  by  surprise,  consequently  they  were  not  prepared  for  the  vig 
orous  reception  which  they  received.  The  Nebraska,  Montana,  and 
North  Dakota  outposts  replied  briskly  until  reinforcements  arrived. 
The  Filipinos  concentrated  at  three  points,  Caloocan,  Gagalangin, 
and  Santa  Mesa.  At  about  i  o'clock  the  insurgents  opened  fire  si 
multaneously  from  all  three  places,  supplementing  the  attack  by  the 
fire  of  two  seige  guns  at  Balik-Balik,  and  advancing  their  skirmishes 
at  Paco.  The  Utah  Light  Artillery  and  the  Third  Artillery  did 
splendid  work.  The  engagement  lasted  over  an  hour.  The  United 
States  cruiser  Charleston  and  the  gunboat  Concord,  stationed  off 
Malabon,  opened  fire,  and  did  great  damage  to  the  insurgents. 

At  2.45  A.M.  there  was  a  fusilade  along  the  entire  line,  and  the 
monitor  Monadnock  opened  fire  from  off  Malate.  With  daylight 
the  Americans  advanced.  The  California  and  Washington  regiments 
made  a  splendid  charge  and  drove  the  Filipinos  from  the  villages  of 
Paco  and  Santa  Mesa.  The  Nebraska  regiment  also  distinguished 
itself,  capturing  a  very  strong  position  at  the  reservoir,  which  is  con 
nected  with  the  waterworks.  The  Kansas  and  Dakota  regiments 
compelled  the  enemy's  right  flank  to  retire  to  Caloocan. 

FILIPINOS    DROWNED    LIKE    RATS. 

The  brigade  under  General  King  charged  upon  a  strong  force  of 
the  enemy,  and,  yelling  wildly,  drove  them  helter-skelter  into  the 
Pasig  River,  where,  in  a  frenzy  of  terror,  they  were  drowned  like  rats. 

The  utter  fearlessness  of  the  American  soldiers  was  never  better 
demonstrated  than  in  this  onward  charge.  The  Ygorates,  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows,  made  a  very  determined  stand,  in  the  face  of  the 
fire  of  artillery,  and  left  many  dead  upon  the  field.  Evidently  they 
did  not  know  what  guns  were,  for  they  stood  in  the  face  of  the  fire 
without  realizing  that  they  were  at  a  disadvantage,  and  were  mowed 
down  like  wheat.  One  of  the  chiefs,  who  was  captured,  said  he  had 
never  seen  a  modern  field  piece  before. 


GEN.  ARTHUR  MACARTHUR. 


GEX.  CHARLES  KING. 


GEN.  HENRY  W.  IyAWTON. 


GEN.   FRED.  FUNSTON. 


WARNING  NON-COMBATANTS  TO  LEAVE  91 

The  next  day  General  H ale's  brigade  advanced  and  took  the 
waterworks  outside  of  the  city.  They  had  a  sharp  skirmish  with  the 
enemy,  which  made  no  determined  stand.  The  pumps  were  damaged, 
but  the  missing  parts  were  found  later,  and  the  works  were  soon 
placed  in  good  order. 

The  terrible  loss  of  the  rebels  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that 
one  hundred  and  sixty  of  them  were  buried  in  one  field  on  one  day, 
and  eighty-seven  in  another.  The  Americans  worked  hard  to  bring 
hundreds  of  the  suffering  insurgents  to  the  hospital  for  treatment. 
The  character  of  the  insurgents  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
they  used  the  flag  of  truce  as  a  defence  for  their  own  fire.  All 
through  Manila  white  flags  were  shown  from  the  houses  of  the 
natives,  and,  as  the  soldiers  passed  by,  they  were  shot  at  from  these 
very  windows. 

A  Filipino  Colonel  went  out  from  his  line  under  a  flag  of 
truce.  Several  American  officers  promptly  went  to  meet  him,  but 
when  the  parties  met  the  concealed  insurgents  opened  fire,  where 
upon  the  Colonel  apologized  for  the  barbarous  conduct  of  his  troops 
and  returned  to  his  lines. 

On  February  loth  an  advance  was  made  upon  Caloocan,  the 
stronghold  of  the  insurgents.  It  was  taken  after  some  brisk  fight 
ing,  and  with  slight  loss  on  our  part ;  but  General  Otis  was  not  satis 
fied.  He  pushod  on  to  Malabon,  to  which  the  insurgents  had 
retreated,  and  soon  was  in  possession  of  the  town.  Before  leaving, 
however,  Aguinaldo's  savage  hordes  set  fire  to  the  town,  and  much 
damage  was  done  to  property. 

The  trouble  was  not  confined  to  the  Island  of  Luzon.  Briga 
dier  General  M.  D.  Miller  sent  an  ultimatum  on  February  loth  to 
the  commander  of  the  rebels  at  Iloilo,  notifying  him  that  it  was  his 
intention  to  take  the  town  by  force,  if  necessary. 

WARNING    NON-COMBATANTS    TO    LEAVE. 

The  warships  began  to  shell  the  town  at  eight  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  and  soon  cleared  the  trenches  of  the  insurgent  force.  A 
detachment  from  the  cruiser  Boston  and  the  Petrel  were  landed  and 
marched  into  the  town,  hoisting  the  Stars  and  Stripes  over  the  fort. 
Not  a  single  man  on  the  American  side  was  injured. 


92-  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

After  the  taking  of  Caloocan,  General  Otis  pressed  the  advan 
tage,  and  Haytay  and  Canita  were  taken  by  the  American  advance 
guard  without  a  shot  having  been  fired.  While  this  was  going  on, 
the  insurgents  inside  of  Manila  made  determined  efforts  to  burn 
dpwn  the  city.  Buildings  were  fired  in  three  different  sections  at  the 
same  time,  and  the  flames  were  controlled  by  the  troops  only  after 
severe  labor.  A  considerable  number  of  the  incendiaries  were  shot, 
and  a  few  of  our  soldiers  were  wounded.  The  fire  was  most  success 
ful  at  Tongo,  the  northernmost  suburb  of  the  city,  which  lies  on  the 
shore  of  the  bay.  The  rebels  in  hiding  were  very  active  while  the 
Americans  were  fighting  the  fire  and  caused  a  great  deal  of  annoy 
ance.  For  a  time  business  was  suspended  in  this  district,  and  many 
suspects  were  placed  under  arrest.  The  Monadnock,  of  Dewey's  fleet, 
joined  in  the  work  of  dispersing  the  Filipinos,  effectively  shelling  the 
rebel  lines  under  the  direction  of  the  signal  corps  on  shore.  In  the 
skirmish  a  surprising  discovery  was  made,  that  many  of  the  insurgents 
were  armed  with  dummy  rifles,  there  being  about  three  of  these  to 
one  of  the  Mausers,  which  explained  in  part  the  secret  of  the  appar 
ently  good  equipment  of  the  Filipinos. 

While  the  skirmishing  was  going  on,  Admiral  Dewey  telegraphed 
the  Naval  Department  as  follows  : 

"  MANILA,  February  24th. 
For  political  reasons,  the  Oregon  should  be  sent  here  at  once. 

DEWEY." 

This  dispatch  was  made  public  by  an  accident.  Secretary  Long 
inadvertently  handed  it  with  a  number  of  others  to  some  newspaper 
men,  and  for  a  time  the  department  was  kept  busy,  trying  to  explain 
exactly  what  Dewey  meant.  The  general  opinion  was  that  the  Ad 
miral  wanted  the  famous  vessel,  not  for  any  effect  on  the  insurgents, 
but  as  a  notice  to  foreigners  to  keep  hands  off.  The  Oregon  was 
promptly  dispatched  to  Manila.  Not  long  after  this  the  German  war 
vessels  at  Manila  were  withdrawn,  and  the  interests  of  German  resi 
dents  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  American  officials  there.  Ad 
miral  von  Diederichs,  who  had  proved  so  offensive  to  Dewey,  was 
withdrawn  by  his  Government,  and  in  his  place  Prince  Henry  of  Ger 
many  was  sent  to  take  charge  of  the  German  squadron  which  had 
been  sent  to  Hong  Kong.  It  was  stated  at  the  time  of  the  change 


CEBU  IS  TAKEN  93 

that  Admiral  von  Diederichs  had  shown  a  lack  of  tact  in  the  manage 
ment  of  affairs  at  Manila  Bay,  and  consequently  the  trouble  which 
had  hampered  Dewey  at  first  disappeared,  and  the  Germans  appar 
ently  assumed  a  friendly  attitude  toward  our  Government. 

CEBU    IS    TAKEN. 

The  United  States  gunboat  Petrel,  commanded  by  C.  Cornwell, 
visited  Cebu,  the  most  important  of  the  Visayas  group,  on  February 
22d.  The  Commander  sent  an  ultimatum  ashore  declaring  the  inten 
tion  of  the  Americans  to  take  possession  peaceably,  if  possible,  by 
force  if  necessary.  The  rebels  immediately  vacated,  taking  their 
guns  to  the  hills.  A  party  of  marines  was  landed,  and  the  American 
flag  soon  floated  over  the  Government  building  there. 

For  some  time  the  fighting  was  confined  to  the  region  around 
Caloocan,  and  this  was  not  aggressive,  but  defensive.  The  insurgents, 
kept  up  a  guerilla  warfare  at  night,  which  proved  rather  troublesome, 
but,  as  usual,  not  serious.  On  March  3d  General  Otis  stated  that  he 
had  captured  1,500  insurgents  since  February  4th. 

March  3d  was  a  red-letter  day  among  both  the  army  and  navy 
people  in  the  island.  President  McKinley  sent  to  the  Senate  the 
name  of  George  Dewey  to  be  an  Admiral  of  the  Navy  under  the  act 
approved  the  day  before,  and  Brigadier-General  Elwell  S.  Otis, 
United  States  Army,  to  be  Major-General  by  brevet  to  rank  from 
February  4th,  and  the  Senate  confirmed  both  nominations.  Secre 
tary  Long  and  Secretary  Alger  cabled  congratulations  for  themselves 
and  for  the  President,  and  the  news  was  received  with  great  enthu 
siasm  everywhere  in  the  Philippines  where  American  soldiers  or  sail 
ors  were  stationed.  Admiral  Dewey  raised  his  four-starred  flag  on 
the  Olympia,  and  was  saluted  by  the  guns  of  the  forts,  the  foreign 
warships,  the  British  cruiser  Narcissus  and  the  German  cruiser  Kai- 
serin  Augusta,  and  all  the  American  ships  in  port. 

On  March  4th  the  United  States  cruiser  Baltimore  arrived  at 
Manila  from  Hong  Kong,  having  on  board  Professor  J.  G.  Shurman 
and  Professor  Dean  C.  Worcester,  the  two  of  the  civil  members  of 
the  United  States  Philippine  Commission.  The  transport  Senator 
arrived  on  the  same  day  with  six  companies  of  the  Twenty-second 
Infantry  as  reinforcements  to  Otis'  command.  Reinforcements,  aggre- 


94  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

gating  4,800  men,  were  hurried  forward  as  fast  as  possible,  bringing 
the  total  number  of  officers  and  men  up  to  41,800.  The  force  then 
there  consisted  of  twenty  regiments  of  infantry,  one  engineer  battal 
ion,  seven  troops  of  cavalry  and  eleven  batteries  of  artillery.  Nine 
teen  vessels  with  an  aggregate  of  297  officers,  2,990  men  and  253 
marines  made  up  the  naval  contingent,  which  did  not  include  the 
transport  Solace  with  162  officers  and  men  which  was  constantly  pass 
ing  back  and  forth  from  Manila. 

On  March  loth  the  United  States  transport  Grant  arrived,  having 
on  board  Major-General  Henry  W.  Lawton,  who  had  so  distinguished 
himself  in  Cuba  and  was  an  old  Indian  fighter,  together  with  the 
Fourth  United  States  Infantry  and  a  battalion  of  the  Seventeenth 
United  States  Infantry. 

WHEATON'S  FLYING  COLUMN. 

General  Wheaton  was  put  in  charge  of  a  new  divisional  brigade 
and  advanced  on  March  i3th  from  San  Pedro  Macati  for  the  purpose 
of  corralling  the  enemy.  He  moved  on  Pasig,  meeting  with  slight 
resistance,  as  the  enemy  was  in  full  retreat.  His  Flying  Column  sought 
to  cut  off  communication  between  the  south  and  north  insurgents' 
armies.  Guadalupe  and  the  city  of  Pasig  were  quickly  captured. 
The  enemy  fought  furiously  under  a  heavy  fire  and  were  caught  in  a 
trap  with  the  Flying  Column  on  one  side  and  the  Pasig  River  on  the 
other.  They  made  a  stand  for  an  hour  and  were  finally  forced  into 
the  jungle  in  full  retreat. 

The  American  advance  began  at  daybreak,  the  cavalry  leading  at 
a  sharp  trot.  A  dash  across  the  open  brought  the  column  to  a  clump 
of  timber  commanding  the  rear  of  Guadalupe.  The  advance,  sup 
ported  by  the  Oregon  troops,  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  the  insurgents, 
and  then  the  column  divided,  the  right  swinging  towards  the  town  of 
Pasig,  and  the  left  advancing  with  a  telling  fire  into  the  brush  where 
the  insurgents  were  concealed. 

At  Guadalupe  church  a  handful  of  the  rebels  made  a  sullen 
stand,  but  finally  broke  and  ran.  The  rebels  who  had  taken  refuge 
in  the  jungle  were  discovered  by  river  gunboats,  which  poured  a  dis 
astrous  fire  into  them.  Everywhere  the  followers  of  Aguinaldo  fled 
for  safety,  and  for  a  time  the  troops  were  ordered  to  cease  firing  to 


A  BRUSH  WITH  THE  ENEMY  95 

get  some  rest  before  attacking  Pasig  itself.  When  the  attack  was 
finally  begun,  a  heavy  rain  was  falling.  After  a  vigorous  fight,  the 
Filipinos  finding  themselves  outwitted  and  defeated  fled  to  the  north 
ward,  and  by  5  o'clock  the  whole  American  line  bivouaced  around  the 
city.  The  next  day  the  column  advanced  beyond  Pasig  to  the  shore 
of  Laguna  Bay,  sweeping  everything  before  it.  The  enemy  made  a 
running  fight  and  suffered  severe  loss.  Their  avenues  of  communi 
cation  north  and  south  were  effectively  closed. 

A    BRUSH    WITH    THE    ENEMY. 

Between  Pateros  and  Taguig  General  Wheaton  with  the  Twen 
tieth  and  Twenty-second  Infantry,  the  Oregon  and  Washington 
troops,  section  six  of  the  Sixth  Artillery,  and  a  squad  of  the  Fourth 
Cavalry  came  upon  the  enemy  massed  in  such  a  force  as  to  cause  an 
unusually  heavy  fight.  The  enemy  was  driven  back  with  great  loss. 

On  March  i6th  the  First  Battalion  of  the  Twentieth  United 
States  Infantry  advanced  from  Pasig,  clearing  the  country  to  Caintia, 
a  well-defended  village  of  seven  hundred  inhabitants.  The  enemy 
was  dislodged  after  a  half-hour's  fighting,  during  which  the  American 
troops  advanced  in  splendid  order  under  heavy  fire,  charging  across 
the  rice  fields  against  overwhelming  odds. 

General  Otis  sent  the  following  cablegram  on  March  i5th  : 
"  Three  thousand  insurgents  moved  down  last  night  to  the  towns  of 
Pasig  and  Pateros,  on  shore  of  Laguna  Bay,  fronting  Wheaton's 
troops  on  Pasig  River  line  ;  by  heavy  fighting  Wheaton  has  dislodged 
and  driven  them  back,  taking  400  prisoners  and  inflicting  heavy  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  ;  he  reports  his  loss  as  very  moderate  ;  he  now 
occupies  these  towns  with  sufficient  force  to  hold  them'." 

Our  troops  found  106  dead  Filipinos  and  100  new  graves  near 
Pasig.  The  prisoners  were  unarmed,  and,  it  is  presumed,  they  exe 
cuted  their  threat  of  throwing  their  arms  into  the  river. 

In  the  meantime  a  number  of  the  Filipinos  had  grown  tired  of 
the  continuous  victories  of  our  troops,  and  some  of  the  prominent 
leaders  among  the  insurgents  advised  surrender  to  the  United  States 
and  an  acceptance  of  our  terms  of  government.  Twelve  adherents 
of  the  plan  of  independence  were  sentenced  to  death  by  Aguinaldo, 
because  they  wrote,  advising  surrender,  and  General  Legarda,  who 


96  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

visited  Malolos  for  the  purpose  of  advising  Aguinaldo  to  give  up  the 
unequal  struggle,  was  executed  on  the  spot  by  orders  of  the  rebel 
leader. 

ON    TOWARD    MALOLOS. 

It  was  decided  to  make  a  concentrated  effort  to  capture  Malolos, 
the  capital  of  the  insurgent  temporary  government  and  the  head 
quarters  of  the  insurgent  leader.  Here  the  Filipinos  had  massed 
their  forces,  and  here,  too,  they  had  thrown  out  protection  and 
trenches,  and  had  prepared  themselves  for  a  fierce  fight.  It  was 
hoped  that,  by  taking  this  place,  the  backbone  of  the  insurgent  strug 
gles  would  be  broken.  In  order  to  meet  the  American  advance, 
Aguinaldo's  forces  concentrated  in  large  number  about  Malabon, 
which  lies  to  the  north  of  Manila,  on  the  railway  and  on  the  shore  of 
the  bay.  They  had  constructed  several  lines  of  trenches  around 
Malabon,  and  there  they  awaited  the  onward  movement  of  our  army. 

The  fighting  began  when,  on  March  25th,  General  MacArthurs' 
division,  consisting  of  the  brigades  of  General  Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
General  Hale  and  General  Hall,  supplemented  by  General  Wheaton's 
brigade,  advanced  and  captured  the  towns  of  Novaliches  on  the  left, 
and  San  Francisco  del  Monte  and  Mariquina  on  the  right,  clearing 
the  rebel  trenches  HI  front  of  the  line  north  from  the  river  to  Caloo- 
can.  They  also  secured  possession  of  the  railroad,  practically  corner 
ing  the  flower  of  Aguinaldo's  army  at  Malabon  and  in  the  foothills 
of  Singalon,  twenty  miles  apart.  The  plan  was  to  strike  north  of  Polo. 

The  attack  was  begun  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Nebraska 
and  Colorado  Volunteer  Regiments  encountered  the  first  strong  re 
sistance.  This  was  at  San  Francisco  del  Monte,  and  in  the  surround 
ing  trenches.  The  Cavalry  outflanked  the  enemy,  who  broke  and 
ran,  but  later  made  a  stubborn  stand  in  the  woods  north  of  the  Laloma 
church. 

The  rebels  adopted  the  American  tactics  of  holding  their  fire 
until  the  enemy  were  about  1,000  yards  away,  and  they  fired  lower 
than  usual  ;  but  the  boys  from  the  United  States  fired  volleys  with 
terrible  effect,  and  then  rushed  forward,  cheering  and  sweeping  every 
thing  before  them.  The  Twentieth  Kansas  and  Tenth  Pennsylvania, 
with  the  Montana  Volunteers  on  the  left,  protected  by  the  Utah  Bat 
tery,  advanced  over  the  open  rice  fields  on  the  double-quick,  yelling 


BRA  VERY  OF  THE  KANSAS  TROOPS  9; 

fiercely  and  occasionally  dropping  in  the  grass  and  firing  by  volley. 
The  enemy,  strongly  entrenched  in  the  woods,  kept  up  a  steady  fire 
until  the  Americans  were  in  close  quarters,  and  then  they  broke  and 
fled.  The  bodies  of  125  of  their  dead  were  found  in  the  trenches 
and  many  more  in  the  woods. 

Within  ninety  minutes  after  the  advance  was  made,  the  whole 
front,  for  a  distance  of  three  miles  to  the  north,  had  been  cleared. 
General  Male's  brigade  had  simultaneously  swept  in  a  northwesterly 
direction,  routing  the  enemy.  Our  advance  was  over  open  ground 
for  a  mile  and  a  half.  The  Third  Artillery,  under  command  of  Major 
William  A.  Kobbe,  at  the  apex  upon  which  the  line  was  to  turn,  got 
the  hardest  fighting  and  lost  nine  per  cent,  of  its  men. 

BRAVERY    OF    THE    KANSAS    TROOPS. 

As  the  line  swung  northwest,  and  came  to  the  TuHahan  River, 
General  Wheaton's  brigade  moved  out  from  Caloocan,  where  it  had 
been  held  in  the  trenches,  and  swept  the  insurgents  directly  in  front, 
making  the  American  line  stretch  along  six  miles  of  the  south  bank 
of  the  river.  The  bridge  at  Caloocan  had  been  destroyed,  and  there 
were  solid  lines  of  insurgents  in  trenches  across  the  river.  Bullets 
were  flying  all  around,  but  the  Third  Kansas  Artillery  boldly  waded 
across  the  stream,  and  fiercely  stormed  the  blockhouse  which  com 
manded  the  approach.  They  were  forced  almost  to  swim  owing  to 
the  depth  of  the  water,  but,  soaking  wet,  they  charged  the  trenches 
and  the  blockhouse  with  the  wildest  cheers,  and  the  Filipinos,  who 
had  never  heard  of  such  fighting,  fled  at  their  approach.  It  was  a 
most  inspiring  spectacle  of  heroism  to  all  who  saw  it, — a  spectacle 
that  shall  ever  live  in  history. 

In  this  fight  General  Mac  Arthur  and  General  Hale,  with  their 
staffs,  were  frequently  under  heavy  fire.  The  heat  was  terrific,  and 
at  times  all  of  the  officers,  except  the  two  Generals,  were  forced  to 
dismount,  overcome  by  the  heat.  The  next  day  MacArthur  dashed 
beyond  Polo  and  to  the  northeast,  and  captured  Meycauavan,  two 
miles  from  Polo.  It  is  at  the  base  of  the  rough  hills  and  the  jungles, 
and  the  whole  way  is  lined  with  trenches.  The  fight  here  was  a  brisk 
one,  and  among  those  who  fell  was  Captain  Krayenbuhl,  who  had 
been  promoted  for  individual  bravery  at  the  battle  of  Manila,  as 


98  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

described  in  another  chapter.  He  was  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
efficient  young  men  of  the  campaign,  and  his  death  was  deplored  by 
everybody  who  knew  him. 

General  MacArthurs'  plan  was  to  cut  off  the  5,000  insurgents  in 
Malolos  from  the  rest  of  the  insurgents,  but  he  was  unable  to  carry 
it  out,  owing  to  the  roughness  of  the  ground  and  the  thickness  of  the 
jungle,  which  prevented  him  from  getting  far  enough  around  to  the 
north  of  Polo  to  shut  the  enemy  in. 

THE  TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  COLONEL  EGBERT. 

In  this  engagement  Wheaton's  brigade  figured  almost  exclu 
sively.  There  were  engaged  the  Fourth,  Twenty-second,  and 
Twenty-third  Infantry,  the  Utah  Troop,  the  Third  Artillery,  and  the 
Oregon  troops.  These  were  stretched  out  along  the  railroad  from 
Caloocan  to  the  Tuliahan  River.  The  rebels  had  destroyed  the 
bridge  over  the  river,  and  on  the  further  side  made  their  stand,  while 
the  engineers  were  trying  to  replace  the  floor  of  the  bridge  on  the 
iron  girders.  The  Second  Oregon  Regiment  dashed  across  the 
river,  wading  and  swimming.  The  Twenty-second  and  four  com 
panies  of  the  Twenty-third  gained  the  west  bank  of  the  river  about 
the  same  time.  From  the  river  the  land  rose  steadily  for  half  a  mile 
to  Malinta,  which  stands  at  the  summit  of  the  hill.  The  crest  was 
torn  up  with  intrenchments,  but  the  Americans  moved  steadily  for 
ward,  yet  no  reply  came- from  the  hidden  foe.  They  waited  until  our 
troops  were  within  300  yards  of  them,  and  then  the  seemingly  deserted 
trenches  belched  forth  a  deadly  fire. 

The  Twenty-second,  which  was  in  the  advance,  with  gallant  Colo 
nel  Harry  C.  Egbert  at  their  head,  dashed  at  the  entrenchments. 
The  Oregon  and  Kansas  troops  at  the  right  and  left  were  fighting 
with  great  gallantry,  but  they  were  in  the  woods,  while  the  men  of 
the  Twenty-second  were  in  the  open,  and  as  these  heroes  of  Santiago 
made  that  magnificent  charge  up  the  hill  in  the  face  of  the  deadly 
fire  of  the  insurgents,  Colonel  Egbert  fell  forward  in  his  saddle  mor 
tally  wounded. 

Close  behind  him  struggling  through  the  grass  came  General 
Wheaton  and  his  staff.  The  soldiers  bore  the  litter  with  the  dying 
Colonel  back,  and,  as  they  passed  the  General,  he  bared  his  head  and 


CAFE   AND  CHOCOLATE   FACTORY,    MANILA 

Chocolate  and  cocoa  are  the  products  of  the  cocoa  free,  which  was  introduced  early  in  the  history  of  the 
islands  by  missionaries  from  Mexico. 


INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  A  CIGAR  AND  CIGARETTE   FACTORY,    MANILA 

The  chief  manufacturing  industry  in  Manila  is  that  of  making  cigars   and    cigarettes.      The   Spanish 

Government  made  this  a  State  Monopoly  during  their  ownership  of  the  islands.     The  growth  and 

mauulacture  of  tobacco  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  industries  of  the  Phi  ippines. 


MALABON  IS  TAKEN  Ioi 

gave  a  soldier's  greeting  to  the  dying  officer.  "  It  was  done  nobly," 
said  the  General.  "  I  am  done  for,  I  am  too  old,"  gasped  Egbert ; 
and  his  words  proved  only  too  true,  for  the  gallant  hero  of  two  wars 
was  dead  before  they  got  him  to  the  rear.  Thus  ended  a  record  of 
continuous  service  as  a  line  officer  for  nearly  forty  years. 

Colonel  Egbert  was  appointed  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  army  from 
civil  life  in  1861.  He  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg, 
but  escaped  and  rejoined  his  command.  He  was  severely  wounded 
in  1864  in  the  Battle  of  Bethesda  Church,  Va.  In  the  Santiago 
campaign  he  commanded  the  Sixth  Infantry  until  shot  through  the 
body  on  July  i,  1898,  when  he  was  disabled.  For  his  distinguished 
service  in  this  battle  he  was  appointed  a  Brigadier-General  of  volun 
teers,  which  grade  he  held  until  December  i,  1898,  when,  in  the 
reduction  of  volunteers,  he  was  honorably  discharged.  He  had  been 
promoted  Colonel  in  the  regular  army  on  July  i,  1898,  and  was 
assigned  to  the  Twenty-second  Infantry,  whose  Colonel,  Charles  A. 
Wikoff,  was  killed  at  San  Juan.  The  Twenty-second  sailed  for 
Manila  February  ist,  and  in  this  great  charge,  so  similar  to  that  up 
the  hill  at  Santiago,  it  again  sacrificed  its  commanding  officer  to  the 
bullets  of  the  foe. 

The  advance  to  Malinta  was  made  over  the  Nivalichaes  Rial. 
The  Filipinos  fled  along  the  railroad,  burning  rice  mills,  tearing  up 
the  tracks  and  obstructing  everywhere.  They  took  refuge  in  the 
church  of  Malinta  and  made  a  stand  there,  but  the  American  troops 
came  on  a  run  and  took  the  place  by  assault. 

MALABON    IS    TAKEN. 

General  MacArthur's  division  pressed  on  along  the  torn  up  rail 
roads  toward  Malabon,  and  at  his  near  approach  the  insurgents  set 
fire  to  that  place  and  fled  back  to  Malolos  as  fast  as  they  could.  The 
condition  of  the  country  was  such  that  rapid  progress  was  not  pos 
sible,  but  with  every  step  of  the  advance  the  Americans  carried 
victory  with  them.  Try  as  they  would,  the  American  forces  were 
unable  to  carry  out  their  plan  of  catching  Aguinaldo  and  his  whole 
army  between  the  two  advancing  lines.  The  Filipinos  were  able  to 
make  more  rapid  progress  than  the  American  troops,  owing  to  their 
familiarity  with  the  country. 


102  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUINALDO 

On  March  27th,  the  American  forces  advanced  from  Meycauavan, 
General  Harrison  Gray  Otis  leading"  his  brigade  on  the  left  of  the 
railroad  track  and  General  Hale's  brigade  taking  the  right  of  the 
track.  The  resistance  was  small  until  the  Americans  approached  the 
Marilao  River  within  sight  of  Marilao  itself.  Again  the  Filipinos 
made  a  stand  on  the  river  bank,  and  when  the  Americans  came  near 
they  delivered  an  effective  fire.  The  river  was  too  deep  to  ford,  and 
the  infranty  consequently  could  not  accomplish  much.  The  fire  of 
the  Filipinos  was  such  as  to  lead  to  the  opinion  that  they  were  well 
trained  soldiers,  probably  members  of  the  Milita  which  the  Spaniards 
organized.  The  entrenchments  of  the  Filipinos  were  a  revelation  to 
our  troops,  and  were  found  to  have  been  designed  by  capable  engi 
neers  and  constructed  with  care  and  thoroughness. 

A    BOLD    CHARGE    BY    COLONEL    FUNSTON. 

Behind  them  the  Filipinos  did  effective  work,  but  when  the 
American  field  artillery  came  into  action  it  put  a  dramatic  end  to  the 
battle.  Approaching  under  cover  of  the  bushes  to  a  clear  space  not 
more  than  sixty  yards  from  the  trenches,  the  artillerymen  dashed  into 
plain  view,  shouting  as  though  in  full  charge  and  prepared  to  fire. 
Knowing  the  effect  of  our  artillery  the  Filipinos  were  eager  to  quit 
before  they  received  a  rain  of  shell.  A  hundred  or  more  fled  from 
their  trenches,  while  others  remaining  displayed  a  white  flag  and 
shouted,  "Amigos,"  (meaning  friends).  The  infantry  had  been 
chafing  at  not  getting  into  action,  and  Colonel  Funston  with  twenty 
of  his  Kansas  followers  again  jumped  into  the  river  and  swam  across 
to  the  opposite  side.  They  forthwith  made  a  charge  and  captured 
80  prisoners  with  all  their  arms.  It  was  a  foolhardy  act  according  to 
the  books,  but  it  made  the  name  of  Colonel  Funston  and  his  Kansas 
Regiment  famous  all  over  the  world.  A  lot  of  men  from  the  Tenth 
Pennsylvania  also  crossed  the  river  and  captured  40  prisoners. 
Finally  the  town  fell  before  the  Americans.  They  were  now  but 
eight  miles  away  from  Malolos,  the  insurgent  capital,  and  everybody 
was  eager  to  press  on  to  what  they  thought  would  be  the  final  contest 
of  the  war.  But  General  MacArthur  thought  it  best  to  give  the 
men  a  rest  for  a  little  while.  Early  on  the  29th,  he  advanced  rapidly 
to  Bocave,  and  at  11.45  ne  advanced  toward  Bigaa,  and  at  3.15  in 


ENTERING  THE  INSURGENT  CAPITAL  103 

the  afternoon  he  turned  toward  Guiguinto,  3^  miles  from  Malolos. 
There  was  some  fierce  fighting  in  the  afternoon.  Troops  crossed 
the  river  at  Guiguinto  by  working  artillery  over  the  railroad  bridge 
by  hand  and  swimming  mules  against  fierce  resistance. 

AGUINALDO    IN    COMMAND. 

During  the  fight  Aguinaldo  commanded  his  troops  in  person  for 
the  first  time  since  the  war  against  our  troops  began.  Prisoners  who 
were  captured,  say  that  officers  stood  behind  the  Filipino  soldiers 
with  whips  instead  of  swords  and  lashed  the  men  to  keep  their  posi 
tion.  As  the  enemy  fled  they  tore  up  the  tracks  of  the  railroad, 
making  the  progress  of  our  troops  very  slow. 

During  the  approach  to  Malolos,  General  MacArthur  and  his 
staff,  while  walking  abreast  of  the  line,  came  near  losing  their  lives. 
Everything  was  quiet  when  suddenly  a  shower  of  bullets  came  on  all 
sides  from  sharp  shooters  in  trees  and  on  house  tops.  These  were 
speedily  dislodged.  The  march  towards  Malolos  was  rapidly  accom 
plished. 

ENTERING    THE    INSURGENT    CAPITAL. 

As  the  troops  neared  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  General  Hale's  and 
H.  G.  Otis'  brigades  were  stretched  between  the  sea  and  the  moun- 

o 

tains.  The  scene  was  a  magnificent  one  ;  the  splendid  line  with  its 
waiving  colors  looked  like  a  rainbow,  and  as  it  neared  the  outskirts 
of  the  city  a  number  of  Filipinos  bearing  a  flag  of  truce  came  out  to 
meet  it.  At  the  sight  of  the  white  signal  of  'surrender,  our  troops 
broke  into  cheers  and  song,  but  when  our  messengers  approached, 
the  bearers  of  the  flag  of  truce  turned  and  ran  back  to  their  capital. 
An  instant  pursuit  was  begun  and  our  troops  were  received  with 
heavy  volleys  from  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  On  the  right  the 
jungle  swarmed  with  little  blue  figures.  It  was  the  rear  guard,  pro 
tecting  the  retreat  of  the  rebel  army  and  destroying  the  railroad  track 
as  they  swept  on. 

The  Americans  camped  all  night  outside  the  city.  The  Generals 
held  a  council  of  war,  for  they  believed  that,  on  the  morrow,  they  might 
have  to  fight  20,000  men.  The  battle  opened  at  daybreak  with  the 
bombardment  of  the  trenches  in  front,  and  for  half  an  hour  the  shells 
fell  in  a  shower.  From  the  huts  natives  threw  knives  at  Kansas  men, 


104  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGU1NALDO 

while  showers  of  arrows  flew  on  all  sides.  The  right  wing  unbroken 
advanced  over  fields  and  through  streams,  taking  the  main  trenches 
south  of  the  city.  They  found  them  deserted.  A  few  men  came  out 
to  meet  the  advancing  line  and  informed  the  soldiers  that  the  army 
had  gone  by  railway  toward  the  interior. 

The  Kansas  men  led  the  left,  and  at  the  end  of  the  main  street 
of  the  city  they  were  met  by  a  barricade  of  stones  from  which  a  hot 
fire  was  poured  by  a  few  insurgents,  but  Colonel  Funston  leaping 
from  his  horse  and  swinging  his  hat  led  the  Kansas  men  over  the 
barricade  and  down  the  street  with  terrific  yells,  firing  volleys  as  they 
ran.  But  the  town  was  deserted  and  there  the  victorious  American 
army  rested  and  feasted,  while  the  American  flag  flew  over  the 
Government  building  of  Aguinaldo's  capital.  The  shattered  army 
had  fled  for  its  life  into  the  interior,  and  Aguinaldo  and  his  cabinet 
had  left  two  days  before,  and  could  not  be  found. 

And  for  a  time,  at  least,  the  backbone  of  the  rebellion  was 
broken. 

A  FEW  PROCLAMATIONS  BY  AGUINALDO. 

It  was  evident,  from  later  information,  that  Aguinaldo  had 
determined  to  stake  all  in  an  attack  upon  the  American  forces.  He 
issued  several  proclamations  defining  his  position,  on  February  2d, 
3rd  and  5th. 

The  first  declares  the  Americans  opened  the  fight,  and  calls  upon 
the  Filipino  Congress  .to  sustain  the  Constitution.  The  second  says: 

"We  have  fought  our  ancient  oppressors  without  arms,  and  we 
now  trust  to  God  to  defend  us  against  the  foreign  invaders." 

His  proclamation  of  February  3rd  says  : 

11  I  order  and  command : 

"  First — That  peace  and  friendly  relations  with  the  Americans 
be  broken  and  that  the  latter  be  treated  as  enemies,  within  the  limits 
prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the  war. 

"  Second — That  the  Americans  captured  be  held  as  prisoners  of 
war. 

4  Third — That  this  proclamation  be  communicated  to  the  Consul, 
and  that  Congress  order  and  accord  a  suspension  of  the  constitu 
tional  guarantee,  resulting  from  the  declaration  of  war." 


A  FEW  PROCLAMATIONS  BY  AGUINALDO  105 

Aguinaldo's  proclamation  of  February  5th  says  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities  was  "  unjustly  and  unexpectedly  provoked  by  the  Ameri 
cans,"  and  refers  to  his  manifesto  of  January  8th,  publishing  the 
alleged  grievances  of  the  Filipinos  at  the  hands  of  the  army  of  occu 
pation,  and  the  "  constant  outrages  and  taunts  which  have  been  caus 
ing  misery  to  the  Manilians,"  and  refers  to  the  " useless  conference" 
and  "  contempt  shown  for  the  Filipino  Government  "  as  proving  a 
"  premeditated  transgression  of  justice  and  liberty." 

The  rebel  leader  also  refers  to  the  former  losses  of  the  Fili 
pinos,  but  says  "slavery  is  bitter,"  and  calls  upon  them  to  "sacrifice 
all  upon  the  altar  of  honor  and  national  integrity." 

He  insists  that  he  tried  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  an  armed 
conflict,  but  claims  that  all  his  efforts  were  "useless  before  the 
unmeasured  pride  of  the  American  representatives"  whom  he 
charges  with  having  treated  him  as  a  rebel  "  because  I  defended  the 
interests  of  my  country,  and  would  not  become  the  instrument  of 
their  dastardly  intentions." 

Aguinaldo  concludes  with  saying : 

"  Be  not  discouraged.  Our  independence  was  watered  freely  by 
the  blood  of  martyrs,  and  more  will  be  shed  in  the  future  to 
strengthen  it.  Remember,  that  efforts  are  not  to  be  wasted  that 
ends  may  be  gained.  It  is  indispensable  to  adjust  our  actions  to  the 
rules  of  law  and  right,  and  to  learn  to  triumph  over  our  enemies." 

The  attack  upon  Manila  by  the  insurgents  was  made  at  a  time 
when  the  country  was  watching  expectantly  to  see  what  the  Senate 
would  do  in  the  ratification  of  the  Peace  Treaty,  which  had  been 
framed  in  Paris.  The  day  preceding  the  rebel  uprising  it  looked  as 
though  the  treaty  would  not  be  ratified.  The  news  of  the  slaughter 
of  our  troops  reached  this  country  the  day  before  the  vote  was  to  be 
taken  in  the  Senate.  Immediately  the  whole  nation  was  swept  with 
feeling.  Everybody  deplored  the  sacrifice  of  life,  and  everybody 
looked  to  the  Senate  to  see  what  the  effect  of  the  news  would  be. 
When  a  vote  was  taken  the  Paris  Peace  Treaty  was  ratified  by  a 
vote  of  57  to  27,  amid  the  greatest  excitement. 

The  Peace  Treaty  was  ratified  by  Spain,  and,  on  April  nth,  the 
last  act  in  the  Spanish-American  drama  was  played.  This  formal  and 
final  scene  took  place  at  the  White  House,  and,  curiously  enough,  it 


106  THE  TROUBLE  WITH  AGUlNALDO 

happened  on  the  anniversary  of  the  day  on  which  President  McKin- 
ley,  in  a  Message  to  Congress,  asked  for  authority  to  intervene  in  the 
Cuban  situation. 

The  final  scene  was  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the 
Peace  Treaty.  The  French  Ambassador,  M.  Cambon,  handed  Presi 
dent  McKinley  the  Spanish  copy  of  the  treaty,  handsomely  engrossed 
and  bound  in  morocco.  The  President  took  from  his  desk  and 
handed  to  the  Ambassador,  who  represented  the  Government  of 
Spain,  the  American  copy  of  the  treaty,  also  engrossed  and  bound 
in  dark  blue  morocco.  Each  bowed  as  the  exchange  took  place,  and 
the  ceremony  so  simple,  yet  so  full  of  meaning,  was  over. 

After  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications,  President  McKinley 
issued  his  proclamation,  which  reads  : — 

"  WHEREAS,  A  Treaty  of  Peace  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  Her  Majesty,  the  Queen  Regent  of  Spain,  in  the  name 
of  her  august  son,  Don  Alfonso  XIII.,  was  concluded  and  signed  by 
their  respective  plenipotentiaries  at  Paris  on  the  loth  day  of  Decem 
ber,  1898,  the  original  o-f  which  convention  being  in  the  English  and 
Spanish  languages,  is  word  for  word  as  follows  : 

(Here  the  full  text  of  the  treaty  is  given.) 

AND  WHEREAS,  The  said  convention  has  been  duly  ratified  on 
both  parts,  and  the  ratifications  of  the  two  Governments  were 
exchanged  in  the  city  of  Washington,  on  the  eleventh  day  of  April, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine. 

"  Now,  THEREFORE,  Be  it  known  that  I,  William  McKinley, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  have  caused  the  said 
convention  to  be  made  public  to  the  end  that  the  same  and  every 
article  and  clause  thereof  may  be  observed  and  fulfilled  with  good 
faith  by  the  United  States  and  the  citizens  thereof. 

"  IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  eleventh  day  of  April,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States,  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-third.  -WILLIAM  McKiNLEY. 

[SEAL]      "  By  the  President. 

"JoiiN  HAY,  Secretary  of  State." 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Men  Who  Won  Fame  in  Battle. 

Commanders  and  Soldiers  whose  Bravery  has  Brought  them  Special  Honors. — Intrepid 
Fighting,  Mad  Dashes,  and  Fierce  Firing  of  Boys  from  Pennsylvania,  New  York 
and  other  States  of  the  East  ;  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  the  Rest  of  the 
South  Line  ;  and  the  Heroic  Warriors  from  Oregon,  California,  Dakota,  Kansas, 
Iowa  and  the  Middle  and  Far  West. — Individual  Deeds  of  Daring. — Scout  Work 
Outside  and  Inside  of  the  City. 

NOWHERE  throughout  the  war  was  the  valor  ot  volunteers  or 
the  heroism  of  regulars  more  strikingly  shown,  than  in  our 
conquest  of  the  Philippines.  Far  away  from  home,  in  a 
strange  land,  among  a  strange  people,  cut  off  even  from  communica 
tion  by  any  regular  channel,  these  brave  sons  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  faced  heat  and  fever  and  finally  the  bullets  of 'their  foes  to 
bring  victory  to  American  arms  both  by  land  and  sea.  So  striking 
was  their  conduct  in  facing  the  rough  chapters  of  a  soldier's  life,  that 
Major-General  Merritt  comments,  in  his  report,  of  "  the  exemplary 
spirit  of  patient,  even  cheerful  endurance  shown  by  the  officers  and 
men,  and  this  feeling  of  admiration  for  the  manner  in  which  the 
American  soldiers,  volunteers  and  regulars  alike,  accept  the  necessary 
hardships  of  the  work  they  have  undertaken  to  do,  has  grown  and 
increased  with  every  phase  of  the  difficult  and  trying  campaign  which 
the  troops  of  the  Philippine  expedition  have  brought  to  such  a  bril 
liant  and  successful  conclusion." 

He  was  particularly  struck  by  the  fortitude  of  General  Greene's 
command  just  after  landing.  It  was  encamped  on  a  strip  of  sand 
near  the  Fhore  where  "  the  greater  portion  of  the  force  had  sheltered 
tents  only  and  were  suffering  many  discomforts,  the  camp  being  in  a 
low  flat  place,  without  shelter  from  the  heat  of  the  tropical  sun,  or 
adequate  protection  during  the  terrific  downpours  of  rain  so  frequent 
at  that  season."  As  was  usually  the  case,  the  hardships  of  inactivity 
were  much  more  trying  than  the  dangers  of  battle.  Men  were  willing 

107 


loS  THE  MEN  WHO  WON  FAME  IN  BATTLE 

to  face  bullets  who  found  it  difficult  and  irksome  to  bear  up  under  the 
routine  work  of  camp  in  the  hot  tropical  sun,  with  the  food  which  a 
soldier  has  to  put  up  with,  especially  in  a  tropical  land  with  the  nearest 
place  of  supply  many  miles  away.  But  everywhere  the  gallant  boys 
of  the  United  States  showed  their  true  metal,  whether  it  was  before 
the  raking  fire  of  the  Spanish,  the  treacherous  bullets  of  the  insur 
gents  or  the  blazing  heat  and  terrible  storms  of  the  Philippines. 

The  force  which  occupied  Manila  consisted  of  470  officers  and 
10,464  men.  These  were  drawn  from  all  over  the  Union — the  east, 
north,  south,  and  west  joined  hands  and  gave  up  the  flower  of  their 
men  to  champion  the  American  corps.  The  troops  were  under 
Major-General  Wesley  Merritt,  and  were  made  up  in  three  expe 
ditions,  the  first  of  which  left  California  on  May  25,  1898,  under  con 
trol  of  General  Thomas  Anderson.  It  consisted  of  115  officers  and 
2,386  men,  the  first  United  States  troops  to  land.  They  arrived 
sixty  days  after  Dewey's  famous  victory  of  May  ist. 

The  second  expedition  left  San  Francisco  on  June  I5th,  and  had 
on  board  158  officers  and  3,428  men,  in  command  of  General  Frank 
V.  Greene.  The  transports  bearing  this  expedition  arrived  on 
July  i  jth,  and  the  wild  shouts  of  those  who  had  landed  over  two 
weeks  before,  and  those  on  board  Admiral  Dewey's  fleet  who  were 
impatiently  waiting  so  that  the  decisive  blow  might  be  struck,  greeted 
the  incoming  vessels,  and  drove  away  any  feelings  of  homesickness 
which  might  have  seized  the  boys  on  their  way  across  the  long 
stretch  of  ocean. 

The  last  of  the  transports  to  arrive  was  those  leaving  June  27th, 
and  reaching  Manila  on  July  3<Dth,  in  command  of  General  Arthur 
McArthur.  He  had  with  him  197  officers  and  4,650  men.  Five  days 
before  this,  General  Merritt  had  reached  Manila  on  the  transport 
Newport,  which  had  on  board  the  Astor  Battery  and  others,  and  the 
commander  of  all  the  forces  had  taken  charge  of  affairs  on  the  island. 
Immediately  upon  his  arrival,  he  was  closeted  with  Admiral  Dewey, 
and  the  two  went  over  the  situation  thoroughly  and  discussed  plans 
for  the  future.  The  landing  of  the  troops  was  the  first  difficulty 
encountered  on  the  island,  everything  had  to  be  taken  in  in  cascoes 
and  dug-outs,  and  some  of  the  boys  had  interesting  experiences 
while  the  operation  was  going  on. 


CONVENT  AT  MALATE  SHOWING   EFFECT  OF  SHELLS 

This  convent  stands  in  front  of  Fort  San  Antcnio  de  Abad,  and  was  wrecked  by  shells 
111  the  battle  ol  August  i3th.     'Ihe  hottest  fighting  was  done  around  it. 


THE   PHILIPPINE   PONY  AND  CART 

L,aige  European  and  American  horses  are  not  fjun-1  in  the  Philippines.   Tne  climate  seems  to  be  fatal  to  them. 
The  small  native  pony,  however,  is  remarkably  strong  lor  its  aize  and  ha.->  wotiiK-i  lui  endurance. 


THE  LANDING  OF  THE  TROOPS  1 1 1 

For  instance,  on  the  day  the  Astor  Battery  landed,  it  stormed 
incessantly,  and  to  add  to  the  gayety  of  the  occasion,  one  of  the  cas- 
coes  containing  the  special  ammunition  for  the  handsome  guns  with 
which  Colonel  Astor  had  equipped  them,  sunk  before  it  reached  land. 
Consequently  the  battery  was  forced  to  remain  out  of  action  on  the 
first  days'  fight,  and  most  of  them  had  to  swim  in  to  reach  shore. 

Many  were  the  deeds  of  daring  done  in  the  fighting  which  fol 
lowed  the  landing  of  the  American  troops, — deeds  which  called  forth 
commendations  for  special  distinction  from  those  in  command.  Many 
more  were  the  deeds  which  history  will  never  record,  and  which 
never  will  be  known  except  among  a  few  of  those  who  witnessed 
them.  General  Merritt,  in  his  report  of  the  attack  upon  Manila, 
when  the  city  was  so  easily  taken,  and  the  loss  was  so  comparatively 
small,  comments  especially  upon  the  valuable  work  of  his  own  staff 
and  his  personal  aids.  He  says  :  "  Brigadier-General  R.  P.  Hughes, 
my  Inspector-General  at  San  Francisco,  was  especially  noticeable  in 
accomplishing  the  instruction  of  green  troops  that  came  to  the  city, 
many  of  them  without  arms,  clothing  or  equipment  of  any  kind. 

"  I  desire  especially  to  express  my  acknowledgments  to  Brigadier- 
General  Babcock,  my  Adjutant-General  and  Chief  of  Staff,  for  his  most 
valuable  services  from  the  inception  of  the  campaign  in  San  Francisco 
to  the  close  of  the  work  at  the  present  time.  This  officer  is  too  well 
known  to  require  special  mention  of  his  services  in  any  one  direction. 
He  was  at  my  right  arm,  not  in  the  office,  but  in  the  field,  and  much 
of  the  success  that  has  attended  the  expedition  is  due  to  his  individual 
efforts. 

"I  desire  especially  to  mention  Major  McClure  and  Major 
Whipple  of  the  pay  department,  who  volunteered  their  services  after 
they  had  completed  their  legitimate  duties,  and  performed  excellent 
service  whenever  called  upon.  Major  McClure  was  especially  im 
portant  in  his  services  immediately  after  the  surrender,  taking  long 
rides  under  my  orders  to  the  Spanish  lines  and  bearing  instructions  to 
them  which  resulted  in  effecting  their  withdrawal  in  such  manner  as  to 

o 

prevent  the  insurgents  from  pillage  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city. 

"I  especially  call  attention  to  the  services  of  Captain  Mott,  as 

mentioned    in    the    report    of    Brigadier-General    Greene.      He  was 

cheerful,  willing,  intelligent   and  energetic,  in   the   discharge   of 


v  T2  THE  MEN  WHO  WON  FAME  IN  BATTLE 

multifarious  duties  imposed  upon  him  in  connection  with  our  troops 
and  trenches  during  the  rainy  season,  and  in  the  final  action  showed 
those  rare  characteristics  which  stamp  him  as  a  very  superior 
soldier."  In  speaking  of  the  landing  of  reinforcements  to  General 
Greene's  troops,  he  says  :  "  The  landing  was  finally  accomplished 
after  days  of  hard  work  and  hardships,  and  I  desire  here  to  express 
again  my  admiration  for  the  fortitude  and  cheerful  willingness  of  the 
men  of  all  commands  engaged  in  this  operation." 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  the  bravery  and  skill  as 
commanders,  of  General  Arthur  McArthur,  whose  forces  really  bore 
the  great  brunt  of  the  battle  upon  the  city,  of  General  Greene  and  of 
General  Anderson.  They  in  turn  each  commend  those  of  their  com 
mands  who  came  under  their  individual  notice  for  conspicuous 
bravery.  General  Merritt  tells  of  the  work  of  the  Colorado  skir 
mishers  who  left  the  shelter  of  their  breastworks  on  August  i3th,  and 
advanced  rapidly  toward  the  Spanish  line.  They  found  that  the 
Spanish  trenches  were  deserted,  4<  but  as  they  passed  over  the  Spanish 
works,  they  were  met  by  a  sharp  fire  from  a  second  line  situated  in 
the  streets  of  Malate,  by  which  a  number  of  the  men  were  killed  and 
wounded,  among  others  the  soldier  who  pulled  down  the  Spanish 
colors,  still  flying  on  the  fort,  and  raised  our  own."  Thus  died  a 
hero,  who  is  not  even  known  by  name  in  this  report,  and  thus  died 
many  others  who  faced  the  bullets  of  the  Spanish  guns  for  the  sake 
of  the  flag  which  this  man  raised. 

General  Anderson  pays  this  tribute  to  his  men  :  "  The  opposi 
tion  we  met  in  battle  was  not  sufficient  to  test  the  bravery  of  our 
soldiers,  but  all  showed  bravery  and  dash.  The  losses  show  that  the 
leading  regiments  of  the  First  Brigade — Thirteenth  Minnesota, 
Twenty-third  Infantry,  and  the  Astor  Battery — met  the  most  serious 
opposition  and  deserve  credit  for  their  success.  The  Colorado, 
California  and  Oregon  regiments,  the  Regulars  and  all  the  batteries 
of  the  Second  Brigade  showed  such  zeal  that  it  seems  a  pity  that  they 
did  not  meet  foemen  worthy  of  their  steel." 

Major-General  Merritt  pays  particular  tribute  to  the  work  of 
General  McArthur.  He  says,  in  his  report :  "  The  works  of  the  second 
line  soon  gave  way  before  the  determined  advance  of  Greene's  troops, 
and  that  officer  pushed  his  brigade  rapidly  through  Malate  and  over 


MAGNIFICENT  EXHIBITION  OF  BRA  VER  Y  113 

the  bridges  to  occupy  Binondo  and  San  Miguel,  as  contemplated  in 
his  instructions.  In  the  meantime  the  brigade  of  General  McArthur, 
advancing  simultaneously  on  the  Pasay  Road,  encountered  a  very 
sharp  fire,  coming  from  the  blockhouses,  trenches  and  works  in  his 
front,  positions  which  it  was  very  difficult  to  carry,  owing  to  the 
swampy  condition  of  the  ground  on  both  sides  of  the  roads,  and  the 
heavy  undergrowth  concealing  the  enemy.  With  much  gallantry  and 
excellent  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  brigade  commander  and  the 
troops  engaged  these  difficulties  were  overcome  with  a  minimum  loss, 
and  McArthur  advanced  and  held  the  bridges  and  the  town  of  Malate, 
as  was  contemplated  in  his  instructions." 

One  of  the  instances,  which  has  probably  never  before  been 
recorded,  of  individual  bravery  and  sacrifice  of  life,  is  that  of  the 
two  sergeants  of  the  Astor  Battery,  who  met  death  in  the  splendid 
and  heroic  charge  upon  the  blockhouse  just  outside  of  Manila.  Ser 
geant  Holmes  was  charging  up  the  hill,  with  Sergeant  Crinnims  at 

O  O  O  I  O 

his  side.  A  bullet  struck  the  latter,  and  he  fell  mortally  wounded. 
As  Holmes  bent  over  him  to  help  him  and  was  speaking  to  him,  a 
bullet  entered  Holmes'  open  mouth  and  with  terrible  force  blew  out 
the  back  of  his  head  completely.  There  was  no  mark  at  all  where 
the  bullet  entered,  and  the  brave  soldier  fell  dead  at  the  feet  of  a 
comrade  whom  he  had  stopped  to  assist. 

On  the  night  of  July  3ist,  when  the  Spaniards,  to  the  number  of 
3,000,  made  their  first  attack  on  the  American  troops,  the  Tenth 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  Battery  K,  of  the  Third  Artillery  Regu 
lars,  and  Battery  A,  of  Utah,  displayed  bravery  that  called  forth  the 
highest  plaudits  of  all  who  were  in  command.  It  was  a  magnificent 
exhibition  of  what  volunteers  could  do.  The  brave  men  from  Penn 
sylvania  and  the  First  California  Regiment  never  flinched  under  the 
most  glittering  fire.  The  Utah  Battery,  under  Captain  Young,  cov 
ered  itself  with  glory.  The  men  pulled  their  guns  through  mud,  axle 
deep.  After  the  battle.  General  Greene  issued  this  address  to  the 
troops: 

"  The  Brigadier-General  commanding  desires  to  thank  the  troops 
engaged  last  night  for  gallantry  and  skill  displayed  by  them  in  repel 
ling  such  a  vigorous  attack  by  largely  superior  forces  of  Spaniards. 
Not  an  inch  of  ground  was  yielded  by  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania  In- 


THE  MEN  WHO  WON  FAME  IN  BATTLE 

fantry  and  Utah  Artillery,  stationed  in  the  trenches.  A  battalion  of 
the  Third  Artillery  and  First  Regiment  California  Infantry,  moved 
forward  to  their  support  through  a  galling  fire  with  the  utmost  intre 
pidity.  The  courage  and  steadiness  shown  by  all  in  their  first 
engagement  is  worthy  of  the  highest  commendation." 

The  attack  of  the  insurgents  upon  our  troops  brought  forth 
more  heroism  and  splendid  behavior  under  fire.  Captain  Charles 
King,  who  himself  stands  high  on  the  rolls  of  valor,  says,  in  describ 
ing  the  battle  of  his  own  men  :  "  Let  no  man  say  the  Filipinos  can 
not  fight  ;  they  are  brave  and  skillful.  As  for  the  California,  Idaho 
and  Washington  Regiments,  and  Dwyer's  and  Hawthorne's  gunners, 
words  are  inadequate."  He  also  speaks  of  the  gallantry  of  Captain 
Otis,  of  Company  A,  First  Washington,  who  "  lost  much  of  his 
ear,  but  none  of  his  nerve."  In  describing  the  death  of  one  of  the 
gallant  old  heroes  of  the  fight,  he  says:  ''General  Anderson  in  per 
son  led  the  attack  in  the  direction  of  San  Pedro,  while  the  brigade 
commander,  with  the  Washington  and  Idaho  Regiments,  made 
the  dash  on  Santa  Ana.  It  was  about  8  o'clock.  The  fields  toward 
San  Pedro  were  open  and  lightly  held,  but  to  the  left  of  the  road  to 
Santa  Ana  the  insurgents  had  strong  redoubts,  earthworks  and 
Krupp  guns.  They  fought  with  obstinate  courage  and  no  little 
skill,  but  their  valor  was  of  no  avail  against  the  determined  rush  of 
the  Washingtons  and  Idahos.  Gallant  old  Major  McConville,  of  the 
Idaho,  got  his  last  order  from  the  lips  of  the  brigade  commander  as 
together  they  rode  across  the  bridge,  and  his  death  wound  was 
received  leading  his  men  into  the  attack.  The  fight  was  fierce  in 
front  of  the  left  wing.  The  insurgents  held  on  to  a  redoubt  in  front 
of  Pandacan  until  our  line  had  swept  beyond  the  other  flank.  In  the 
dash  u;  on  this  earthwork,  Captain  Fortman,  First  Washington,  led 
two  companies  across  the  stream,  fording  the  Concordia,  as  almost 
all  the  brigade  had  to,  waist  or  breast  deep.  One  of  McConville's 
companies  attacked  at  the  same  moment  from  the  right,  and  between 
them  the  insurgents  were  driven  into  the  Pasig,  leaving  forty  dead 
and  ma;i}'  wounded." 

'\  he  American  troops  seemed  to  enjoy  the  dangers  of  the  con 
test.  They  drove  the  insurgents  before  them  like  a  flock  of  sheep, 
or  as  one  burly  Colorado  fighter,  who  was  discussing  the  capture  of 


A  SERIES  OF  BRILLIANT  COMBATS  115 

the  waterworks,  put  it:  "It  reminded  me  of  a  rabbit-drive  on  the 
Colorado  plains." 

One  of  the  things  which  caused  the  American  troops  to  give  no 
quarter  to  their  foes  in  one  of  the  fights,  was  the  trip  in  which  Dr. 
Young,  formerly  Quartermaster-Sergeant  of  the  Third  Artillery,  lost 
his  life.  He  was  scouting  and  was  captured  by  the  insurgents,  who 
hacked  his  body  to  pieces  and  left  it  mutilated  on  the  ground.  The 
sight  of  it  aroused  all  of  the  fighting  blood  in  the  troops,  and  they 
pressed  forward  to  avenge  his  death  with  great  zeal. 

In  the  taking  of  Caloocan,  a  small  town  just  north  of  Manila, 
the  Filipinos  were  routed  with  the  most  vigorous  advance  by  the 
American  troops.  One  eyewitness  of  the  fighting  has  this  to  say 
about  it :  "  Brigadier-General  H.  G.  Otis  holds  the  extreme  left  of  the 
American  line  from  the  bay  near  Cakiican.  The  regiments  on  the 
line  and  in  support  are  :  the  Twentieth  Kansas,  Colonel  Funston, 
eleven  companies ;  First  Montana,  Colonel  Kerster,  nine  companies  ; 
Third  Artillery,  Major  Kobbs,  four  batteries  as  infantry,  and  the 
Tenth  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Hawkins,  four  companies.  Two  com 
panies  oi  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania  are  behind  the  walls  of  the  De  la 
Loma  churchyard.  Across  the  ravine  from  the  Montana  regiment  is 
Captain  Jensen's  company,  holding  the  stone  fort  supporting  Grant's 
Battery  of  four  Utah  guns  ;  a  fifth  gun  is  to  the  left  and  on  the  rail 
road,  supporting  the  Kansas  troops. 

"  To  reach  its  present  position  the  brigade  has  advanced  four 
times  since  Saturday  in  a  series  of  brilliant  combats  on  different  parts 
of  the  line  of  action,  especially  so  on  the  4th,  5th  and  yth. 

"  Several  bayonet  charges  were  made  on  the  yth  during  the 
advance  of  the  right  and  centre.  The  taking  of  the  Chinese  ceme 
tery  on  the  5th  by  the  Montana  and  Pennsylvania  regiments  was  a 
superb  piece  of  work.  A  brilliantly  executed  advance  up  the  slope 
in  the  open  made  a  battle  picture  that  would  delight  any  veteran." 

An  individual  exhibition  of  bravery  has  brought  the  name  of 
Major  J.  F.  Bell,  of  the  Volunteer  Engineer  Corps,  to  the  front  and 
caused  him  to  be  particularly  noticed  in  the  report  of  General  Greene 
to  the  War  Department.  Just  before  the  attack  was  made  upon 
Manila  General  Greene  found  it  necessary  to  know  the  exact  condi 
tion  of  the  territory  lying  between  the  trenches  of  his  troops  and  Fort 


1 1 6  THE  MEN  WHO   WON  FAME  IN  BATTLE 

San  Antonio  de  Abad.  The  Americans,  of  course,  were  practically 
unfamiliar  with  the  ground  around  the  city,  and  the  only  method  of 
finding  out  exactly  the  lay  of  the  land  was  through  the  work  of  expert 
scouts.  Owing  to  the  comparatively  open  nature  of  the  land.  Thic 
work  was  more  than  usually  dangerous,  and  every  man  who  started 
out  on  it  expected  to  sacrifice  his  life  to  the  cause. 

Major  Bell,  whose  skill  as  an  engineer,  as  well  as  his  coolness 
and  bravery  made  him  a  valuable  man  in  such  an  emergency,  was 
delegated  to  report  to  the  General  the  exact  condition  of  things 
between  the  two  opposing  lines.  Between  our  trenches  and  the  fort 
was  a  creek,  the  depth  of  which  was  a  matter  of  doubt,  and  it  was 
debated  whether  it  was  necessary  to  build  a  bridge  across  the  stream 
or  not.  Under  cover  of  the  darkness,  with  Spanish  sharp-shooters 
lurking  all  about  so  that  any  false  step  might  have  caused  the  crack 
of  a  rifle,  Major  Bell  tested  the  creek  right  in  front  of  the  frowning 
fort,  and  discovered  that  it  was  of  such  a  depth  that  it  could  easily 
be  forded  by  the  troops.  He  crossed  the  river,  found  out  its  exact 
width,  and  then  with  audacity  and  bravery  which  showed  the  metal 
of  the  man,  he  swam  up  the  river  to  the  bay  and  around  in  the  very 
rear  of  the  Spanish  troops,  where  he  secured  invaluable  details  which 
led  to  an  intelligent  attack  upon  the  stronghold  of  the  Spanish. 

This  was  but  one  of  the  numerous  similar  feats  performed  which 
the  demands  of  the  situation  called  for.  The  low  walls  of  the  rice 
fields,  hardly  more  than  a  foot  high,  were  sometimes  the  only  things 
that  stood  between  the  scout  and  discovery  and  certain  death.  Men 
went  for  miles  almost  flat  upon  their  stomachs,  crawling  like  snakes 
through  the  marshy  rice  fields,  raising  their  heads  just  enough  to  note 
the  condition  of  things  around  them,  ready  for  any  emergency  or  any 
danger. 

One  of  the  New 'York  men,  who  was  a  member  of  the  volunteers, 
swam  for  miles  around  the  forts  of  the  enemy,  facing  what  was  almost 
certain  death,  if  discovered,  with  a  zeal  and  cheerfulness  that  was 
inspiring  to  all  who  heard  of  the  deed. 

The  influence  of  the  bravery  of  one  man  in  command  is  illus 
trated  by  the  following  incident  in  which  a  captain  turned  what  looked 
like  defeat  into  a  splendid  victory.  While  the  first  day's  fight  was 
going  on,  Captain  O'Hara,  in  command  of  the  Battalion  of  the  Third 


A  TIMEL  Y  BUGLE-CALL  1 1 7 

Artillery,  was  lying  in  his  tent  trying  to  get  a  little  rest.  He  was 
unable  to  get  to  sleep,  however,  and  he  found  himself  involuntarily 
keeping  track  of  the  firing  of  the  men.  He  knew  that  they  had  but 
fifty  rounds  of  ammunition  with  them,  and  he  realized  that,  at  the 
rate  they  were  firing,  this  would  soon  be  used  up.  He  did  not  know 
what  the  trouble  was  ;  but  he  did  know  that  if  these  men,  who  were 
shooting  from  the  trenches  into  the  dark  were  attacked,  they  would 
want  help  when  their  ammunition  was  gone,  and  they  would  want  it 
pretty  badly,  too. 

As  he  lay  in  his  tent,  thinking  over  the  situation,  he  counted  the 
volleys  one  by  one,  as  they  pealed  on  the  night  air,  until  they  became 
indiscriminate,  and  then  he  knew  that  the  boys  were  getting  rattled. 
He  had  no  orders,  but  he  took  a  chance,  and  he  took  it  just  in  time. 
He  sounded  the  assembly,  and,  as  the  bugle-call  rang  out  over  the 
camp,  the  men  of  Battery  H  tumbled  out  of  their  tents  and  formed 
into  line,  rifles  in  hand,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  rounds  of  ammu 
nition  at  their  belts.  Down  in  the  camp  below,  where  the  Third 
Artillery  was,  a  bugler  heard  the  call  and  took  it  up.  The  First 
Colorado  men  heard  it  and  swarmed  out  with  their  guns.  Nebraska 
followed  suit,  and  soon  half  of  the  camp  was  in  arms.  Leaving  Cap 
tain  Hobbs  in  command  of  Battery  H,  with  orders  to  be  ready  to 
advance  at  the  bugle  call  and  to  bring  ten  thousand  rounds  of  extra 
ammunition,  Captain  O'Hara,  with  his  orderly  and  his  bugler,  started 
up  the  road  toward  the  front.  A  little  beyond  the  corner  of  the 
camp  he  met  another  orderly  coming  on  the  dead  run.  The  man 
was  blown  and  frightened.  He  had  run  through  a  rain  of  bullets 
on  his  way  back  for  help,  and  it  had  increased  his  excitement  and 
enlarged  his  notion  of  what  had  happened.  "  We  are  whipped,"  he 
shouted  to  Captain  O'Hara;  " we're—  But  O'Hara  didn't  care  to 
hear  any  more.  His  bugler  was  already  blaring  out  the  command, 
"  Forward  !"  Back  in  the  camp  the  bugler  of  the  waiting  Captain 
Hobbs  answered  the  call,  and  all  pressed  up  the  road  as  hard  as  they 
could  go.  All  along  the  road  the  bugler  sounded  the  cry  of  "  For 
ward,"  and  the  men  of  Battery  H,  crawling  up  through  the  dreadful 
mud,  answered  with  a  cheer  and  a  fresh  spurt. 

Somewhere   ahead  O'Hara   knew  that  his   lieutenant,    Krayen- 
buhl,  and  his  own  battery  were  either  waiting  or  already  in  action. 


1 1 8  THE  MEN  WHO   WON  FAME  IN  BATTLE 

He  met  men  coming  to  the  rear  with  the  wounded,  and  some,  too, 
coming  without  wounded.  "  We're  beaten,"  they  shouted,  but  the 
only  response  they  got  was  the  call  of  the  bugler,  "  Forward."  These 
shame-faced  stragglers  fell  in  with  the  Captain,  his  orderly,  and  the 
bugler,  and  little  by  little  they  gained  in  numbers  as  they  went  along. 
Up  the  Camino  Real  they  went  with  mud,  ankle-deep,  and  the  rain 
pouring  down  in  torrents,  and  all  the  time  the  bugle  kept  singing  out 
the  single  word,  "  Forward  ",  and  every  time  it  sounded  the  answer 
came  sharp  and  clear  from  Battery  H,  which  was  coming  behind. 

At  the  cross-roads  and  the  first  barricade,  where  Krayenbuhl  had 
been  posted,  there  were  only  a  few  stragglers,  and  Captain  O'Hara 
knew  that  his  lieutenant  had  swung  into  the  rescue  of  his  own 
accord.  Here  they  were  overtaken  by  Battery  H,  and  all  together 
lifted  up  their  voices  in  a  cheer  that  was  carried  down  to  the  trenches. 
There  the  hard-pressed  Pennsylvanians  heard  it  and  it  gave  them 
new  strength.  As  the  reinforcements  were  going  along,  Captain 
Hobbs  felt  a  sudden  sharp  sting  on  his  right  thigh.  He  put  his  hand 
down  and  felt  blood,  and  knew  that  he  was  hit,  but  he  did  not  stop. 

As  the  Captain  surmised,  Krayenbuhl,  who  had  been  keeping  a 
sharp  watch  out,  had  been  impressed  with  the  indiscriminate  firing  at 
the  front  and  knew  that  help  was  needed.  So  he  piled  in  to  give 
them  that  help,  sending  a  message  over  to  Battery  K,  on  his  right,  to 
join  in,  in  a  hurry.  They  reached  the  Pennsylvania  boys  just  in  time, 
for  their  ammunition  had  just  about  given  out.  Krayenbuhl,  realiz 
ing  that  the  boys  were  a  little  bit  rattled,  jumped  among  the  excited 
men,  who  were  firing  at  will,  and  shouted  to  them  to  get  together. 
He  threatened  to  shoot  the  first  man  who  fired  without  orders.  His 
own  men  swung  into  action  like  clockwork,  and  this,  with  his  personal 
bravery,  had  the  desired  effect.  The  Pennsylvanians  steadied  down 
as  the  first  volley  of  these  regulars,  fired  as  though  it  was  one  charge, 
rang  out.  That  volley,  too,  reached  the  ears  of  O'Hara  and  Hobbs 
as  they  were  puffing  along  with  their  men.  They  recognized  the 
roar  of  the  Krag-Jorgensen  rifles,  and  they  knew  from  the  way  they 
were  fired  that  the  men  behind  them  were  regulars,  and  that  they 
were  their  own  men  in  action.  But  O'Hara  did  not  slack  up,  and  his 
men  went  right  on,  stimulated  with  the  knowledge  that  they  would  be 
able  to  snatch  victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat. 


THE  CORDAGE   FACTORY  OF  SANTA   MESA,   A  SUBURB  OF  MANILA. 

One  of  the  i?reat  industries  of  the  Philippines  is  hemp-raisins:,  hut  almost  the  entire  product  has  been  shipped  to  the  United 
States  an  1  Sngland  for  manufacture.     Many  cordage  factories  will  no  doubt  Ke  built  in  the  islands  und'  r 

America's  progressive  rule. 


THE   FAMOUS  SPANISH    PRISON,    MANILA. 

What  the  Cubans  suffered  in  Morro  Prison,  Havana,  was  fully  equaled  by  the  tortures  of  the  Filipinos  in  the  above  landmark 

of  Spanish  cruelty  in  the  East  Indies. 


DEFEAT  TURNED  TO   VICTORY  121 

In  the  meantime  the  frightened  courier  had  stumbled  through 
the  camp  and  finally,  almost  exhausted,  cried  out,  "  Somebody  take 
my  gun  !  Help  me  to  General  Greene !  We  are  whipped  !  Oh  !  its 
awful !"  They  almost  dragged  him  over  to  General  Greene's  quarters 
in  a  native  hut  just  in  front  of  the  camp.  The  General  was  up  ex 
pecting  a  message  from  the  front.  "  General,"  said  the  wretched 
courier,  "  send  reinforcements,  send  every  man,  send  every  company. 
We  are  whipped ;  the  whole  battery  is  wiped  off  the  earth,  and  we 
are  out  of  ammunition."  General  Greene  put  his  hand  on  the 
frightened  messenger's  shoulder  and  said  steadily,  "keep  cool  young 
man ;  it's  all  right ;  we  will  send  you  help  ;"  and  after  a  while  he  was 
able  to  get  a  more  explicit  account  of  what  had  happened  and  sent 
plenty  of  aid.  But  O'Hara's  men  had  already  turned  defeat  to 
victory. 

Here  is  how  one  fellow  faced  death.  Private  McIIrath,  of 
Battery  H,  who  was  acting  Sergeant  in  command  of  20  men,  was  a 
first  class  soldier  and  had  been  in  the  army  for  fifteen  years.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  confusion  when  his  men  jumped  in  the  trenches  to 
help  the  Pennsylvanians,  and  so  McIIrath  stood  up  on  a  parapet  and 
said,  "  We  have  got  them,  now  boys,  get  together  and  give  it  to  them 
in  volleys/'  and  while  he  was  walking  back  and  forth  on  top  of  the 
parapet  steadying  the  men  in  the  trenches,  and  getting  them  to  fire 
together,  he  was  hit  in  the  head  by  a  Mauser  bullet,  and  fell  back 
among  his  comrades,  to  die  in  the  hospital  the  next  day. 

Private  J  F.  Finlay,  of  Company  C,  First  California,  especially 
distinguished  himself.  For  such  work  as  his,  Englishmen  get  the 
Victoria  Cross.  Finlay  is  detailed  to  Major  Jones'  transportation 
department  as  interpreter.  His  mother  was  a  Mexican,  and  he 
learned  Spanish  before  he  did  English.  When  ammunition  was  sent 
forward  Finlay  was  in  charge  of  the  train,  He  had  eight  carromatta 
loads  of  it,  each  carromatta  with  a  native  driver.  He  started  when 
the  Spanish  fire  was  hottest  and  went  straight  up  through  the  open 
fields.  The  bullets  buzzed  and  whistled  all  about  him.  They  ripped 
through  the  tops  of  his  carts,  and  one  of  them  hit  one  of  the  drivers 
in  the  leg.  Finlay  kept  on  as  if  he  were  going  after  corn  on  a  pleasant 
afternoon,  until  he  reached  the  old  insurgent  trench.  Then  he  halted 
his  train  and  went  forward  aloivj  to  find  some  one  from  the  Tenth 


122  THE  MEN  WHO  WON  FAME  IN  BATTLE 

Pennsylvania,  to  whom  he  could  deliver  the  ammunition.  That  last 
hundred  yards  into  our  trench  was  what  Captain  O'Hara,  who  has 
seen  plenty  of  hot  work,  called  a  "  very  hot  place/'  It  was  swept 
incessantly  by  Spanish  bullets.  But  Finlay  hunted  around  until  he 
found  his  man,  went  back  and  got  his  carromattas,  and  started  for 
ward.  One  of  his  ponies  was  shot  just  in  the  rear  of  our  trench. 
Finlay  took  it  out  of  the  cart,  and  with  a  native  driver,  hauled  the 
cart  along  to  its  place,  delivered  his  cartridges,  and  started  back. 

On  the  way  he  found  Captain  Richter  lying  in  the  field  where 
he  had  fallen.  He  jumped  out  of  his  carromatta,  put  the  Captain  in, 
and  started  on.  Pretty  soon  he  found  another  wounded  man.  That 
one  was  picked  up  too,  and  back  he  went  to  camp.  Then  he  turned 
the  wounded  over  to  the  surgeons  and  got  orders  to  take  ten  carro 
mattas  to  the  front  and  bring  back  the  wounded.  Back  over  that 
bullet-swept  field  he  went  again,  as  cool  and  unconcerned  as  if  on  a 
drive  through  Golden  Gate  Park,  did  his  work,  brought  in  the 
wounded,  and  turned  in  to  get  what  sleep  he  could  before  the  hard 
day's  work  began  soon  after  daylight. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  heroic  deeds  which  have  reached  the 
ears  of  the  public  mainly  through  the  reports  of  Commanders  of  the 
Army.  The  list  of  dead  and  wounded  upon  the  battlefields  tells 
its  own  story  of  the  heroism  of  those  who  accepted  death  as  pay 
ment  for  their  loyalty  to  their  country.  That  list  is  growing  day  by 
day,  so  that  the  number  of  graves  of  the  soldier  dead  is  becoming  so 
large  that  their  more  fortunate  companions  have  started  a  movement 
for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  commemorate  their  valor.  The 
special  burying  grounds  at  Camp  Dewey,  and  the  portions  of  the 
cemeteries  in  Manila  which  have  been  given  over  to  the  soldiers  who 
fell  in  battle  are  pathetic  commentaries  upon  the  courage  with  which 
our  men  faced  the  Spanish  and  insurgent  fire  and  disease.  Even  though 
it  is  probable  that  the  bodies  of  our  dead  will  be  removed  to  the 
United  States  at  some  time,  nevertheless,  the  movement  for  the  erec 
tion  of  a  monument  in  Manila  to  commemorate  their  deeds  is  being 
vigorously  pushed..  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  monument  be 
erected  on  the  Luneta,  the  great  military  parade  ground.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  sum  of  $50,000  will  eventually  be  raised. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  Past   History  Written   in   Blood 

Ever  Since  their  Discovery  the  Philippines  have  been  the  Scene  of  Terrible  Conflicts. 
— They  Began  with  Peace,  but  soon  were  Rife  with  War. — Legaspi  Fortified 
Manila  and  made  it  a  Stronghold. — The  Raid  of  Limahong,  the  Chinese 
Pirate. — Naval  Battles  with  the  Dutch  for  Half  a  Century. — England  Takes 
Manila,  but  Returns  It  to  Spain. 

THE  history  of  the  Philippine  Islands  is  a  history  of  bloodshed. 
Their  discovery  followed  close  upon  the  discovery  of  America 
by  Columbus.     The  Spanish  government,  in  order  to  stimu 
late  the  search  for  unknown  lands,  published  a  general  concession  to 
all  who  wished  to  search  for  them.      Many  were  the  expeditions  fitted 
out,  but  few  were  successful. 

The  chief  search  was  for  rich  spice  islands  which  had  hitherto 
been  undiscovered.  A  contract  was  made  between  King  Charles  of 
Spain  and  Magalhaens,  who  is  familiarly  known  as  Magellan,  by  vir 
tue  of  which  the  latter  started  out  on  a  voyage  of  discovery.  On  the 
loth  of  August,  1519,  the  expedition  started  in  the  direction  of  the 
Canary  Islands.  Magellan  had  many  adventures,  including  mutiny 
of  his  own  men,  before  he  finally  reached  and  passed  through  the 
seaway,  which  now  bears  his  name,  Strait  of  Magellan,  dividing  the 
island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  from  the  mainland  of  Patagonia.  This 
notable  event  took  place  on  the  28th  day  of  October,  1520.  The 
expedition,  which  had  formerly  consisted  of  five  vessels,  dwindled 
down  to  three,  and  these  three,  to  their  great  satisfaction,  found 
themselves  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  first  mariners  to  find  that  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  were  joined  together. 

THE    DISCOVERY    OF    THE    PHILIPPINES. 

Cheerfully  they  kept  on  their  voyage  of  discovery.  On  the  i6th 
of  March,  1521,  the  Ladrone  Islands  were  reached.  Here  they  had 
trouble  with  the  natives,  who  stole  one  of  the  ships'  boats,  — so 


124  A  PAST  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

Magellan  named  it  "  Robber  Island," — and  a  bloody  battle  was  neces 
sary  before  the  boat  could  be  regained.  The  fleet  then  continued  its 
course  westward,  and  finally  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Buttean 
River,  on  the  island  of  Mindanao,  and  landed  the  first  white  man 
upon  the  Philippines. 

It  was  Easter  week,  and  there,  on  the  shore  of  this  new  land 
which  was  to  figure  so  largely  in  the  history  of  their  country,  these 
men  of  chance,  who  sailed  in  the  hope  of  discovery  without  definite 
knowledge  as  to  what  the  day  would  bring  forth,  knelt  down  upon 
the  shore  and  celebrated  the  first  mass  of  the  land  over  which  the 
Church  was  thereafter  to  rule. 

The  natives  were  friendly,  and  did  everything  possible  for 
Magellan.  He  took  formal  possession  of  the  territory  in  the  name 
of  Charles  the  First,  and  then  sought  other  islands  nearby,  to  which 
he  was  directed  by  the  Chief  of  the  tribes  of  Mindanao.  So  the 
expedition  arrived  on  the  7th  of  April  at  Cebu,  where  they  were  met 
on  the  beach  by  2,000  men  in  battle  array.  The  reception,  however, 
was  one  of  peace  rather  than  that  of  war,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
a  compact  had  been  made,  in  which  the  king  of  the  island  and  all  his 
men  swore  fealty  and  obedience  to  the  king  of  Spain. 

The  people  of  Cebu  were  at  war  with  the  tribes  on  the  opposite 
coast,  so  Magellan  sided  with  his  new  allies,  and  went  to  war  with 
them.  On  the  25th  of  April,  1521,  he  was  shot  by  an  arrow  and 
killed.  Three  monuments,  one  opposite  the  city  of  Manila,  another 
on  the  spot  where  he  was  killed,  and  the  third  at  the  city  of  Cebu, 
where  he  landed,  commemorate  the  three  great  events  in  his  life  in 
the  Philippines. 

A    MASSACRE    OF    SPANIARDS    AT    A    BANQUET. 

Thus  the  Philippines  came  under  the  rule  of  Spain.  The  com 
mand  of  the  islands  was  assumed  by  Duarte  de  Barbosa,  one  of 
Magellan's  followers.  Barbosa,  with  twenty-six  of  his  companions, 
was  invited  to  a  banquet  by  Hamabar,  king  of  the  island.  At  this 
banquet  the  king  killed  all  of  his  guests  except  one,  and  that  one 
was  held  for  ransom  from  the  other  members  of  the  expedition. 
The  exploring  party,  however,  pulled  up  anchor  and  departed,  leav 
ing  him  to  his  fate.  They  had  been  reduced  to  one  hundred  persons, 


TO  CONQUER  AND  CHRISTIANIZE  THE  ISLANDS  1^5 

all  told,  and  found  that  they  were  unable  to  manage  all  of  the  three 
vessels,  so  one  of  them  was  burned  at  sea. 

The  expedition  touched  at  Borneo,  and  finally  reached  the  Island 
of  Tidor,  which  had  already  been  discovered  by  the  Portuguese.  From 
there  the  explorers  returned  home,  where  they  were  received  with 
great  honor. 

Several  other  expeditions  were  sent  out  by  the  king,  but  none 
of  them  were  successful,  until  1543,  when  an  expedition  reached  the 
islands  which  they  named  Philippines,  in  honor  of  Philip,  the  son  of 
King  Charles,  heir  apparent  to  the  throne. 

When,  a  few  years  later,  King  Charles  abdicated  in  favor  of  his 
son,  that  ruler  determined  to  follow  in  his  father's  footsteps,  and 
annex  territory  by  discovery,  and  inspired  further  by  religious  senti 
ment,  he  ordered  an  expedition  to  go  to  the  Philippine  Islands  to 
conquer  and  christianize  its  people. 

TO    CONQUER    AND    CHRISTIANIZE    THE    ISLANDS. 

Urdaneta,  one  of  the  brave  and  fearless  captains  of  a  former 
expedition,  and  a  man  who  had  fought  under  King  Charles,  but  had 
taken  the  habit  of  an  Augustine  monk,  was  entrusted  with  the 
spiritual  care  of  the  races  to  be  subdued.  He  was  accompanied  by 
five  priests  of  his  order.  The  whole  expedition,  consisting  of  four 
ships  and  one  armed  frigate,  carried  four  hundred  soldiers  and  sailors 
under  the  command  of  General  Miguel  Lopez  de  Lagaspi.  This 
general  was  of  noble  birth,  and  had  a  reputation  for  piety,  justice 
and  loyalty  to  the  Crown. 

The  expedition  reached  the  Philippines  in  the  latter  part  of 
January,  1565.  It  was  resolved  to  land  at  Cebu,  which  was  a  safe 
port.  The  vessels  anchored  off  the  port  of  Dapatan  on  Mindanao 
Island,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  ruler  there.  He  sent  one  of 
his  subjects  to  investigate  the  vessels,  and  the  man  returned  with  such 
an  extraordinary  account  of  how  the  men  ate  stones  (hard  biscuits), 
drank  fire  and  blew  smoke  out  of  their  mouths,  that  the  prince 
thought  it  wise  to  be  friendly. 

From  him  Legaspi  learned  that  Cebu  was  a  powerful  kingdom, 
and  considered  rich  by  the   neighboring  states,  consequently  he  re 
solved  to  take   possession  of    it.      He  landed  there  on  the  27th  of 
7 


126  A  PAST  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

April,  1565,  and,  as  the  natives  opposed  his  entrance,  he  took  the 
town  by  force  and  sacked  it.  It  was  no  easy  matter,  however,  to 
continue  there,  for  the  surrounding  tribes  harrassed  the  newcomers 
continuously,  and  finally  a  council  was  held  to  discuss  the  advisability 
of  leaving1.  General  L  egaspi  decided  to  remain,  and  so  the  first  days 
of  contest  against  the  natives  began,  and  from  that  time  to  this  the 
island  has  been  a  constant  scene  of  trouble. 

The  work  of  pacification  not  only  of  Cebu,  but  of  the  islands 
nearby,  was  steadily  pushed  forward  by  Legaspi.  He  was  a  man  of 
strength,  and  little  by  little  he  won  the  confidence  of  the  natives,  their 
dethroned  king  accepted  baptism,  and  his  daughter  married  a 
Spaniard. 

AN    ATTACK    BY    PORTUGUESE. 

Then,  in  the  midst  of  Legaspi's  success,  the  rival  Portuguese 
sent  an  expedition  to  dispute  possession  of  the  territory.  They 
were  compelled  to  retire,  but  Legaspi  learned  through  that  experi 
ence  the  necessity  of  being  prepared  for  any  emergency.  He 
accordingly  built  a  fortress,  marked  out  plots  of  land  for  Spanish 
residences,  and  finally,  in  1570,  Cebu  was  declared  a  city,  and 
Legaspi  was  made  Governor-General  of  all  the  lands  that  he  could 
conquer  by  royal  grant  from  King  Philip. 

Legaspi  sent  his  grandson,  Captain  Juan  Salcedo,.  to  the  island 
of  Luzon  to  bring  it  under  Spanish  dominion.  I  le  went  to  the  north 
and  was  received  with  extraordinary  friendliness  by  the  chiefs  of 
Tondo  and  of  Manila.  They  yielded  up  their  territory,  paid  tribute 
and  became  allies  of  the  Spaniards,  against  their  own  people,  and 
apparently  were  not  given  anything  at  all  in  return.  A  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed  and  ratified  by  the  exchange  of  drops  of  blood,  as 
was  the  custom  in  those  lands. 

Later  on,  one  of  these  friendly  young  chiefs,  whose  name  was 
Soliman,  ruler  of  Manila,  repented  of  his  bad  bargain  and  led  his 
tribes  in  revolt.  He  set  fire  to  his  capital  to  prevent  its  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  invaders,  and  was  completely  routed  in  battle  by 
the  Spaniards.  Salcedo  pardoned  him  afterward,  on  his  taking  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Spain. 

News  of  the  trouble  at  Manila  reached  General  Legaspi,  and  he 
proceeded  at  once  to  that  place.  He  took  formal  possession  of  the 


THE  INVASION  OF  THE  CHINESE  PIRATE  127 

whole  territory,  declared  Manila  to  be  the  capital  of  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and  proclaimed  the  sovereignty  of  Spain  over  the  whole 
archipelago.  He  set  the  natives  to  work  to  fortify  the  place  and  to 
build  a  large  residence  for  himself  and  a  church  for  the  priests.  He 
also  built  one  hundred  and  fifty  smaller  dwellings  for  the  other  Span 
iards  who  were  with  him.  The  City  Council  of  Manila  was  organized 
on  the  24th  of  June,  1571,  and  on  the  2oth  of  August  of  the  next 
year,  Legaspi  died,  leaving  a  name  which  will  always  live  in  Spanish 
history.  In  the  meantime  Salcedo  continued  his  task  of  subjugation, 
and  during  the  next  few  years  most  of  the  nearby  tribes  were  made 
subject  to  the  domination  of  Spain.  General  Legaspi's  formal  suc 
cessor,  as  Governor,  was  Guido  de  Lavezares,  who  was  appointed  in 
accordance  with  sealed  instructions  from  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Mexico.  During  Lavezares'  rule  the  Chinese  pirate  Limahong  tried 
to  land  upon  the  Philippines  and  conquer  them.  His  acts  against 
traders  caused  him  to  be  outlawed  by  the  Chinese  Emperor,  and  for 
a  long  time  he  had  been  the  terror  of  the 'Chinese  coast.  He  hap 
pened  to  fall  in  with  a  trading  junk,  which  had  just  returned  from 
Manila,  and  in  his  usual  way  he  took  possession  of  her,  and  forced 
the  captain  and  his  crew  to  take  him  back  to  the  capital  of  Luzon. 
Visions  of  wealth  and  pictures  of  how  easily  the  islands  might  be 
captured  were  before  him.  He  got  together  a  fleet  of  62  armed  junks, 
having  on  board  2,000  sailors,  2,000  soldiers  and  1,500  women  and 
sailed  forth  to  capture  and  establish  a  new  kingdom. 

THE    INVASION    OF    THE   CHINESE   PIRATE. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1574  he  arrived  with  his  squadron 
at  the  Bay  of  Manila,  and  sent  a  lieutenant  at  the  head  of  600 
fighting  men  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  place.  But  a  strong  gale, 
probably  one  of  the  terrible  typhoons,  sprang  up  and  destroyed  sev 
eral  of  his  junks  and  about  200  of  his  men.  He  was  forced  by  the 
storm  to  Paranque,  a  village  a  few  miles  south  of  Manila.  There  he 
landed  and  had  no  resistance  until  he  came  fairly  to  the  gates  of 
the  city.  The  marauders  burned  the  residence  of  Martin  de  Goiti, 
second  in  command  to  the  Governor,  and  killed  him,  and  the  flames 
and  smoke  which  arose  gave  the  first  sign  which  the  Governor  had  of 
the  approach  of  the  enemy. 


T  28  A  PAST  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

The  Spaniards  took  refuge  in  the  fort  of  Santiago,  and  just  as 
the  Chinese  were  on  the  point  of  taking  it  by  storm,  some  fresh  troops 
arrived,  led  by  a  Spanish  sub-lieutenant.  The  Chinese,  though  they 
were  the  vanguard  of  a  large  body  of  men,  sounded  'a  retreat.  A 
bloody  hand-to-hand  combat  followed,  and  the  Chinese  fled  to  their 
ships.  In  the  meantime  Limahong  with  reserve  forces  went  off  to 
the  capital  by  sea  and  attempted  to  take  it.  The  city  was  set  on  fire 
and  a  band  of  chosen  men  under  Sioco,  a  lieutenant,  advanced  toward 
the  fort,  and  then  a  desperate  contest  began.  Limahong  supported 
the  attack  with  his  vessels'  cannons. 

After  prolonged  fighting  the  Spaniards  finally  gained  the  vic 
tory,  and  the  followers  of  the  pirate  fled,  demoralized.  Although 
foiled  in  his  attempt  to  take  Manila,  Limahong  determined  to  set  up 
a  capital  for  himself  at  the  mouth  of  the  Agono  River,  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Pangasinan.  He  announced  to  the  natives  that  he  had  just 
conquered  the  Spaniards,  and  they  received  him  cordially,  so  that  he 
founded  his  new  capital  there  and  fortified  it.  The  Spaniards  soon 
sought  him  out,  however,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it,  a  force  of  Chi 
nese  arrived,  also  seeking  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  the  pirate. 
They  united  their  forces,  and  Limahong,  seeing  that  he  was  destined 
to  get  himself  into  trouble,  cleverly  slipped  away  from  his  enemies 
and  fled.  Thus  ended  the  invasion  of  the  Chinese  pirate,  and  the 
day  of  his  flight  is  kept  as  a  public  holiday  and  gala  day  still. 

The  conquest  of  the  natives  was  continued  until  the  death  of 
Salcedo  from  the  fever,  on  the  iith  of  March,  1576. 

THE    BATTLES    BY    SEA  WITH    THE    DUTCH. 

Following  upon  some  internal  trouble  as  to  the  question  of  pres 
tige  of  Governor,  Supreme  Court,  and  Church  in  the  civil  affairs  of 
the  colony,  came  the  conflict  with  the  Dutch.  The  latter  sent  vessels 
which  hovered  about  the  waters  of  Moluccas  Islands  to  take  any 
trading  vessels  which  they  could  run  across.  In  roving  around,  these 
Dutch  vessels  were  able  to  take  many  prizes,  and  the  Philippine 
colony  lost  large  sums  by  the  seizure  of  vessels  sent  to  them  by  the 
Mexican  colony,  upon  which  it  was  almost  entirely  dependent  for 
troops  and  European  articles.  So  the  Spaniards  in  the  Philippines 
began  fitting  out  vessels  to  protect  themselves  against  this  naval 


A  MARKET  MAN   IN   MANILA 

This  tyoe  of  enterprising  huckster  marches  up  and  down  the  streets  and  alleys  of  Philippine  cities  crying  his 

vegetables  (very  much  as  the  familiar  "  Old  iron,  rags,  copper,  bones  and  mass!  "  >.oiit?cior^  i  averse 

the  street*  ot  American  cities)  stopping  at  the  dnm  wavs  from  \v !  i  h  he  may  be  hailed. 


FAST  FREIGHT  LINE  OF  THE   PHILIPPINES. 

This  is  the  cralt  in  which  the  country  farmer  conveys  his  product  to  market.     The  enormous  size  of  the  faithful  water 
Buffalo  may  be  judged  by  comparing  it  with  the  master  who  sits  upon  his  back. 


COCK   FIGHTING,  THE  CHIEF  SPORT  OF  THE   NATIVES. 

Every  native  has  his  fighting'  cock,  which  lives  and  sleeps  in  his  house  with  him,  and  is  loved  bv  the  owner  as  much  as  his  own 
children.     The  Filipino  will  bet  his  last  dollar  on  the  issue  of  a  battle  between  his  own  and  another's  game-cock. 


THE  BATTLES  BY  SEA    WITH  THE  DUTCH  131 

enemy.  A  fleet  composed  of  several  frigates,  i  ship,  6  galleys  and 
100  smaller  vessels,  all  well  armed,  was  brought  together.  The  fight 
ing  men  upon  them  numbered  100  Spaniards,  400  Arquebusiers,  1,000 
Archers  and  Lancers,  besides  100  Chinese  to  row  the  galleys.  The 
Chinese  turned  out  to  be  a  very  important  part  of  the  expedition. 
They  formed  a  conspiracy  to  exterminate  the  Spaniards.  They  fell 
upon  them  while  they  were  asleep  and  massacred  them.  Eighteen 
of  the  troops  escaped  by  jumping  into  the  sea.  The  Governor  awoke, 
and,  hearing  the  noise,  ran  up  on  deck,  where  a  Chinaman  chopped 
his  head  open  with  a  cutlass,  so  that  he  died  in  a  few  hours.  The 
Chinese  were  afraid  to  venture  below  where  the  priests  and  armed 
soldiers  were,  so  they  fastened  up  the  hatches  and  escaped  to  Cochin 
China,  where  the  King  and  Mandarins  seized  the  vessel  and  all  that 
she  carried.  This  proved  a  crushing  blow  for  the  time,  but  other 
expeditions  against  the  Dutch  were  more  successful,  the  most  nota 
ble  one  being  that  under  Juan  de  Silva,  the  Governor. 

He  sent  out  a  fleet,  comprising  6  ships  carrying  70  guns  and  2 
galleys,  and  a  number  of  smaller  vessels,  having  on  board  over  1,000 
Spaniards.  They  met  the  Dutch,  and  after  a  fierce  struggle  lasting 
6  hours,  they  won  a  splendid  victory,  recovering  plundered  merchan 
dise  to  the  value  of  $300,000. 

In  various  years  subsequently  the  Spanish  of  the  Philippines  and 
these  warlike  Dutch  vessels  met  on  the  seas  and  fought.  The  bat 
tles  continued  for  over  50  years,  during  which  time  the  Dutch  did  not 
attempt  to  take  possession  of  the  islands  themselves  or  their  govern 
ment,  but  contented  themselves  with  naval  attacks,  and  with  plunder 
ing  the  vessels  which  brought  supplies  to  the  Spaniards. 

For  some  years  the  inhabitants  of  the  Philippines  were  not 
annoyed  by  foes  from  without,  but  the  dissensions  which  arose  be 
tween  Church  and  State  kept  their  history  from  being  common 
place. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  an  event  that  proved  of 
importance  to  the  Spanish  in  the  archipelago  occurred.  The  Tartars 
invaded  China  and  overthrew  the  Min  Dynasty,  the  Chinese  Empe 
ror  being  succeeded  by  the  Tartar  Emperor  Kungchi,  who  had 
brought  nearly  all  the  Chinese  Empire  under  his  control.  There  was 
one  Mandarin,  however,  who  held  out  against  him.  His  name  was 


132  A  PAST  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

Keuseng.  He  boldly  asserted  his  independence,  and  flung  defiance 
in  the  teeth  of  the  victorious  Tartar. 

He  retired  to  the  island  of  Kinmuen,  where  he  fortified  himself 
as  strongly  as  possible,  and  held  out  an  offer  of  protection  to 'any 
Chinese  who  desired  to  help  him  in  his  fight  against  the  Tartar  rule. 
So  the  Emperor  issued  an  edict  that  no  man  should  inhabit  China  within 
4  leagues  of  the  coast,  except  in  those  provinces  which  were  known 
to  be  loyal  to  him.  This,  of  course,  played  havoc  with  the  coast,  and 
all  of  the  Chinese  who  had  lived  for  generations  by  the  sea  and 
earned  a  living  by  fishing,  etc.,  were  forced  to  flee  to  the  interior. 

But  the  valiant  Keuseng  was  not  at  all  daunted.  He  turned  his 
attention  to  the  Formosa  Island,  which  was  nearby,  and  at  that  time 
in  control  of  the  Dutch.  He  had  little  trouble  in  taking  the  island, 
which  at  that  time  had  about  600  European  settlers  and  a  garrison  of 
2,200.  The  artillery  stores  and  merchandise  there  were  valued  at 
about  $$, 000,000.  Keuseng  had  a  force  of  100,000,  and  after  taking 
the  Dutch  stronghold  he  announced  himself  as  King  of  Formosa. 
He  sent  Riccio,  an  Italian  Dominican  missionary,  as  an  ambassador 
to  the  Governor  of  the  Philippines,  ordering  the  latter  to  pay  tribute 
to,  him  or  he  would  attack  Manila. 

The  Spaniards,  however,  had  no  idea  of  yielding  to  the  demands 
of  Keuseng.  So  they  decided  to  concentrate  all  of  their  forces 
in  Manila,  and  in  order  to  do  that  they  demolished  the  forts  on  the 
other  islands  and  transferred  their  garrisons  to  the  capital.  That 
brought  the  troops  in  Manila  up  to  100  cavalry  and  8,000  infantry. 

THE    MASSACRE    OF    THE    CHINESE    OF    MANILLA. 

Everything  was  placed  in  readiness  for  the  proposed  attack,  and 
then  the  Spaniards  began  to  suspect  that  the  Chinese  residents  of 
the  city  were  getting  up  a  rebellion,  Therefore  they  did  the  best 
they  could  to  incite  them  to  some  overt  act,  so  that  they  might  have 
a  pretext  for  their  massacre. 

The  Chinese  population  prepared  for  self-defence,  and  finally  one 
of  them  killed  a  Spaniard  in  the  market  place,  The  Government 
took  this  for  an  excuse,  and  suddenly  opened  up  a  terrible  fire  on  the 
people.  Many  of  the  peaceful  Chinese  traders  hung  themselves 
through  fear ;  others  were  drowned  in  their  attempt  to  escape  by 


ENGLAND'S  FLEE7  REACHES  THE  PHILIPPINES  133 

sea ;  while  still  others  fled  and  were  able  to  reach  Formosa,  where 
they  joined  Keuseng's  army.  About  eight  or  nine  thousand,  how 
ever,  remained  in  the  city  and  held  their  ground.  On  these  the 
Spaniards  turned  their  wrath,  and  for  a  time  desperate  fighting  was 
general. 

It  looked  as  though  the  Chinese  were  going  to  win  the  victory, 
so  the  Governor  sent  ambassadors  to  offer  terms.  One  of  these 
ambassadors  came  back  to  tell  the  Governor  on  what  terms  the  Chi 
nese  would  return,  leaving  the  other  behind,  who  in  his  absence  was 
beheaded.  This  started  a  general  extermination  of  the  Chinese,  and 
the  Spaniards  swore  they  would  kill  every  Chinaman  on  the  island. 
But  as  all  the  tradesmen  and  mechanics  were  of  that  race,  the  Span 
iards  found  that  they  were  inconveniencing  themselves,  so  finally  they 
desisted  in  their  general  slaughter  and  pardoned  all  who  laid  down 
their  arms. 

While  this  was  going  on  in  the  Philippines,  Keuseng  was  pre 
paring  himself  to  sweep  down  on  Manila  and  capture  it.  He  died, 
however,  before  he  could  carry  out  his  campaign.  His  successor  was 
more  peacefully  inclined,  and  he  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Manila  by  which  they  renewed  their  old  commercial  rela 
tions.  Not  long  after,  a  rebellion  arose  among  the  former  followers 
of  Keuseng,  which  resulted  in  the  Tartar  party  obtaining  possession 
of  the  island  and  annexing  it  to  China. 

It  was  then  that  Riccio,  the  ambassador  to  the  dead  King,  was 
called  upon  to  explain  the  result  of  his  mission  to  the  Philippines, 
and  he  so  presented  things  that  the  Chinese  governmeat  was  satis 
fied,  and  did  not  take  up  the  cause  of  their  subjects,  otherwise  the 
history  of  the  Philippines  might  have  been  radically  different. 

ENGLAND'S  FLEET  REACHES  THE  PHILIPPINES. 

On  the  ist  of  May,  1762,  Spain  agreed  to  unite  her  forces  with 
those  of  France  against  England,  and  war  was  declared  shortly  after. 
England  pushed  her  conquest  of  island  territory  with  great  strength 
and  rapidity,  and  among  other  things  sent  a  fleet  to  the  Philippine 
Islands  with  orders  to  capture  Manila. 

The  fleet  arrived  there  on  the.  324  pf  September,  and  was  made 

up  of  thirteen  ships  in  Gomman4  of  Captain-Admiral  Cornish,    They 


134  A  PAST  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

demanded  the  surrender  of  the  city,  which  was  refused,  whereupon 
Brigadier-General  Draper  disembarked  his  troops  and  a  bombardment 
and  attack  was  begun.  The  whole  force  in  Manila  was  about  600 
men  and  eighty  pieces  of  artillery,  while  the  British  forces  consisted 
of  1,500  men,  3,000  seamen,  800  Sepoy  fusileers  and  1,400  Sepoy 
prisoners,  a  total  of  6,700. 

The  office  of  Governor-General  was  being  filled  at  the  time  by 
Archbishop  Manuel  Antonio  Rojo,  who  was  temporarily  acting  in  that 
capacity.  He  was  willing  to  yield  the  city,  but  a  war  party  under  the 
leadership  of  a  magistrate  of  the  Supreme  Court  named  Salazar 
swept  aside  his  authority  and  declined  to  surrender.  Salazar,  how 
ever,  instead  of  bravely  leading  his  men  to  battle,  fled  from  the  city, 
leaving  the  war  party  to  struggle  along  as  best  it  could. 

Two  rich  vessels  which  were  about  entering  the  port  of  Manila  from 
Mexico,  laden  with  goods  valued  at  $2,500,000,  were  captured  by  the 
British.  The  fight  began  and  was  kept  up  in  a  lively  way  by  artillery 
for  some  time.  The  Archbishop's  nephew  was  taken  prisoner,  and  an 
officer  was  sent  by  the  British  General  with  a  small  force  to  return 
the  young  man  to  his  uncle.  Some  of  the  natives  fell  upon  the  party 
and  murdered  them  all.  The  officer's  head  was  cut  off  and  the  sav 
age  natives  refused  to  give  it  up.  Consequently  General  Draper, 
inflamed  by  this  act,  redoubled  his  efforts  to  prosecute  a  merciless 
campaign  against  Manila. 

BRITISH    TAKE    MANILA. 

After  a  fierce  struggle,  in  which  defeat  and  victory  alternately 
perched  upon  the  banners  of  the  British,  General  Draper  and  his 
troops  entered  the  city  on  the  5th  of  October,  demolished  the  forts 
and  overturned  the  artillery. 

Terms  of  capitulation  were  offered  and  accepted.  The  fort  was 
delivered  up  to  the  British,  and  the  British  flag  floated  above  the 
walls.  The  natives,  who  had  been  imported  by  General  Draper,  were 
plundering  the  city,  so  he  had  them  all  driven  out,  as  it  proved,  so 
that  his  own  soldiers  might  pillage  the  place.  He  placed  a  guard  at 
the  doors  of  the  nunneries  and  convents  to  protect  the  inmates,  and 
then  gave  up  the  whole  place  to  the  victorious  troops  to  plunder  for 
three  hours, 


GENERAL  DRAPER  ADOPTS  A  NEW  POLICY  135 

It  was  an  awful  scene,  and  the  atrocities  and  bloodshed  and  mur 
der  which  took  place  then  will  forever  blot  the  name  of  Draper  in 
history.  The  following  day  a  similar  scene  was  allowed,  and  it  was 
only  when  the  Archbishop  besought  the  General  to  have  compassion 
on  the  city  that  that  officer  restored  order. 

Draper  then  demanded  the  surrender  of  Cavite,  which  was 
agreed  to  by  the  Archbishop  and  the  magistrates,  but  the  officer  in 
command  of  that  place  refused  to  comply.  Later,  however,  he  left 
the  garrison,  and  the  natives  plundered  it. 

When  the  city  capitulated  it  was  agreed  that  an  indemnity  of 
$4,000,000  should  be  paid  to  the  British,  one-half  in  money  and  valu 
ables,  the  other  half  in  treasury  bills  on  Madrid.  In  order  to  raise 
this  amount  heavy  contributions  were  levied  upon  the  inhabitants, 
and,  although  the  Archbishop  gave  up  his  rings  and  the  cross  which 
he  wore  around  his  neck,  and  the  Church  gave  up  its  silver  plate  and 
ornaments,  the  amount  raised  only  reached  $546,000.  The  British 
proposed  to  accept  $1,000,000  in  cash,  and  take  the  rest  from  the 
cargo  of  an  expected  vessel,  the  Philipino,  if  she  had  not  been  seized 
previous  to  the  day  of  capitulation.  Then  every  effort  was  made  to 
raise  this  million,  but  it  proved  unsuccessful.  The  day  before  the 
city  surrendered,  a  messenger  had  been  sent  away  with  $i  1 1,000  with 
orders  to  hide  it.  An  effort  was  made  to  get  the  money  back,  but  it 
had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  Franciscan  friars,  who  refused  to 
give  it  up,  and  removed  it  from  place  to  place.  The  British  insisted 
upon  their  claim,  and  sent  troops  to  intercept  the  landing  of  the 
cargo  of  the  expected  Philipino.  These  troops  overran  the  country, 
but  were  unable  to  secure  the  treasure. 

GENERAL    DRAPER    ADOPTS    A    NEW    POLICY. 

Draper  adopted  a  policy  of  kindness  to  secure  himself  in  power. 
He  made  a  tool  of  the  Archbishop,  and  issued  a  friendly  proclamation 
to  the  natives,  saying  that  the  King  of  England  would  not  exact  tribute 
from  them  as  the  Spaniards  had  done.  The  Archbishop,  at  his  instance, 
convened  a  council  of  native  headmen  and  of  representative  families, 
and  proposed  the  cession  of  all  the  islands  to  the  King  of  England. 

There  was  one  man,  however,  Simon  De  Anda,  who  determined 
to  take  up  arms  rather  than  yield  to  the  British  yoke.  He  declared 


136  A  PAST  HISTORY  WRITTEN  IN  BLOOD 

himself  Governor-General  of  the  island,  and  a  number  of  his  coun 
trymen  upheld  him,  together  with  the  Austin  friars,  who  joined  the 
rebel  party,  and  were  a  power  in  the  land.  A  number  of  expeditions 
were  sent  against  Anda,  but  he  managed  to  avoid  any  open  contact 
with  them.  It  was  decided  to  send  an  expedition  out  to  Bulacan  to 
capture  it.  The  convent  there  was  fortified  with  three  small  can 
nons,  and  when  the  British  vanguard  came  up  it  opened  fire  and 
caused  great  havoc.  When  the  British  returned  the  fire,  the  natives 
fled  panic-stricken,  and  when  an  assault  was  made  upon  the  convent 
there  was  a  terrible  fight  and  great  slaughter,  and  finally  the  invad 
ing  troops  proved  victorious  and  took  the  place. 

Occasionally  the  Lieutenant-General  of  Anda,  whose  name  was 
Bustos,  appeared  and  manoeuvred  about  the  convent,  but  did  not  dare 
to  make  an  attack.  Finally,  however,  the  British  made  a  sally  upon 
him,  and  routed  him  completely. 

A  conspiracy  was  then  organized  among  the  Chinese  in  the 
province  of  Pampanga  against  Anda,  and  the  Chinese  entrenched 
themselves  for  slaughter.  The  clash  finally  came  between  the  two, 
with  the  result  that  Anda  won  the  victory,  and  large  numbers  of  the 
Chinese  were  slain.  Ancla  issued  a  general  decree  declaring  all  the 
Chinese  to  be  traitors  to  the  Spanish  flag,  and  ordered  them  to  be 
hanged  wherever  they  were  found.  In  consequence  of  this  order 
thousands  were  executed  who  had  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  war. 


A    PRICE    PLACED    ON    ANDA*S    HEAD. 


The  British,  harassed  by  Anda's  troops  without,  were  compelled 
to  take  precautions  against  an  uprising  of  the  natives  within  the  walls 
of  the  city.  Anda  in  the  meantime,  having  obtained  the  treasure 
from  the  long-expected  Philipinovfas  able  to  organize  quite  a  respect 
able  army.  He  harassed  the  British  right  and  left,  and  a  price  was 
placed  upon  his  head  by  the  British  commander.  In  the  meantime 
Anda  had  been  officially  acknowledged  by  the  King  of  Spain,  and 
therefore  was  given  legal  right  to  the  position  that  he  had  usurped, 
so  that  the  British  commander  had  to  communicate  with  him  officially 
whenever  occasion  demanded. 

The  friars  were  busy  inoculating  the  ignorant  natives  with  the 
idea  that  the  British  were  infidels,  and  so  persuaded  the  people  that 


TREATY  OF  PEACE  137 

this  was  a  holy  war.  They  abandoned  their  mission  of  peace  for 
that  of  the  sword,  and  once  thereafter  the  British  met  with  their 
reverse  in  battle,  having;  been  caught  in  ambush. 

o  o 

TREATY    OF    PEACE. 

While  all  this  was  going  on  news  came  from  Europe  that  the 
preliminaries  of  peace  were  going  on,  under  the  terms  of  which 
Manila  was  to  be  evacuated  by  the  British  and  given  back  to  Spain. 
Anda  claimed  that  he  was  the  proper  person  to  assume  control  of 
things,  and  one  of  his  friends,  named  Villa  Corta,  sought  the  same 
honor.  The  Archbishop  who  had  surrendered  the  city  died,  and 
Anda  was  acknowledged  by  the  British  as  Governor.  The  other 
rival  factions,  however,  were  not  so  easily  set  aside,  and  fierce  quar 
rels  ensued,  which  were  happily  ended  by  the  arrival  of  a  newly 
appointed  Attorney-General  from  Spain,  Don  Francisco  de  la  Torre. 

After  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace  in  Paris  the  British 
evacuated  the  city,  and  the  Spanish  flag  was  once  more  hoisted  over 
the  fort  of  Santiago,  and  the  day  was  made  a  day  of  general 
rejoicing. 


*  3 


IS. 


4;    f  J 
5   O 


10     go- 

<  2  3' 


111! 

O    a,~TJ 

•-  '-f.  a 

li.   -  «  co 

O  3x§ 
Q    8l 


s 

*>  bo 


!fl    0 

.'i  ° 


O    ^ 


CHAPTER  VII 
Filipinos'   Struggles  for  Freedom. 

Periodically  the  Natives  Turned  under  the  Cruel  Spanish  Heel  and  Rose  up  in  their 
Might. — Revolts  against  the  Tyranny  of  the  Church. — How  a  Flight  of  Sky 
rockets  Tore  Victory  from  the  Hands  of  the  Natives. — The  Last  Fight  for 
Freedom. — The  Greatest  of  Insurgent  Martyrs,  Doctor  Rizal. — His  Dramatic 
Execution  a  Few  Years  Ago. — Other  Great  Fighters  for  Freedom. 

THE  struggles  for  liberty  of  the  natives  form  a  most  romantic 
chapter  in   the  history  of  the    Philippines.     Conquered  by  a 
foreign  foe  whose  civilization  and  power  were  such  as  to  ena 
ble  them  to  hold  these  barbarians  in  check,  time  and  again  they  rose 
up  in  their  might  to  regain  the  liberty  they  had  lost.      Patriots,  men 
of  finer  mould  than  most  of  the  natives,  men  who  had  a  little  learning 
which   enabled  them  to  hold  a  place  of  influence   among  their  own 
people,   inspired    now  and    then    ineffectual    attempts  to  break    the 
shackles  of  subjection. 

Philippine  history  is  blotted  with  the  blood  of  martyrs  and 
patriots  who  have  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  feeble  hope  that  their 
country  might  be  free.  These  uprisings  began  from  the  very  first, 
for  although  in  the  time  of  Legaspi  the  great  chiefs  of  Manila  and 
Tondo  submitted  to  the  Spanish  yoke,  this  did  not  imply  a  total 
surrender  of  all  of  the  islands  of  the  archipelago — at  least  it  did  not 
render  them  passive  to  the  rule  of  the  foreigners.  Each  separate 
island,  and  each  separate  chief  had  to  be  brought  into  subjection,  and 
this  kept  the  European  forces  busy  from  the  moment  they  entered 
into  possession  of  the  Philippines,  up  to  the  present  day. 

THE    FIRST    GREAT    UPRISING. 

In  1622,  a  great  uprising  and  struggle  for  freedom  took  place  on 
Bojol  Island.  This  was  largely  a  struggle  against  the  Church.  The 
Jesuit  missionaries  had  taxed  the  islanders  beyond  their  power  to 
pay,  and  had  insisted  upon  their  accepting  forms  of  worship  which 

141 


142  FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

they  did  not  understand,  and  in  which  they  did  not  believe.  Their 
own  Pagan  form  of  worship  was  more  to  their  liking,  and  so  one  day 
they  rebelled  and  proclaimed  their  intention  of  regaining  their  liberty 
of  government,  and  especially  of  Church. 

Then  followed  wild  times  of  plunder,  of  fire  and  of  battle. 
Towns  and  churches  became  heaps  of  smouldering  ashes,  the  images 
within  the  sanctuary  were  defiled,  destroyed  and  the  remnants  scat 
tered  ;  but  the  rebels  could  not  win.  The  Governor  of  Cebu  gathered 
a  large  number  of  troops,  who  with  superior  arms  and  superior  knowl 
edge  of  warfare,  drove  the  insurgents  like  sheep  into  the  interior  of 
the  island,  where  they  took  refuge  and  fought  in  the  manner  of  insur 
gents  of  later  years. 

BRUTALITY    OF    A    PRIEST    BRINGS    REBELLION. 

For  over  a  century  their  attacks  upon  the  Government  were 
spasmodic  and  disorganized,  but  in  1744  there  was  a  more  serious 
rising  of  the  natives,  brought  on  by  the  high-handed  acts  of  a  Jesuit 
priest  named  Morales.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  arresting  natives  who 
did  not  attend  mass,  and  of  punishing  them  as  he  saw  fit.  He  also 
exercised  his  functions  as  a  priest  as  it  pleased  him,  and  once  he  left 
the  body  of  one  of  the  natives  to  decompose,  refusing  to  allow  it  to 
be  buried.  In  doing  this  he  made  an  enemy  of  the  dead  man's 
brother  named  Dagohoy,  who  organized  a  party  for  revenge.  He 
swore  that  he  would  pay  the  priest  back  in  his  own  coin  or  lose  his 
life  in  the  attempt,  and  what  he  swore  to  he  did,  for  not  long  after 
ward  Morales,  the  priest,  was  captured  and  executed,  and  for  four 
days  his  body  was  allowed  to  rot  in  the  tropical  sun. 

Not  satisfied  with  that,  Dagohoy  pushed  forward  his  fight  into 
an  organized  struggle  for  freedom.  Great  numbers  of  the  natives 
flocked  to  his  standard,  and  for  thirty-five  years  this  army  of  insur 
gents  harassed  the  government  troops  constantly,  so  that  it  was 
necessary  to  always  be  on  the  alert  against  their  incursions.  The 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  colony  alone  ended  the  uprisings, 
and  after  that  Dagohoy  and  his  army  submitted  to  the  Spaniards, 
and  were  pardoned. 

Simultaneously  with  the  uprising  of  the  natives  on  Bojol  Island 
in  1622,  there  was  an  insurrection  in  Leyte,  and  the  Governor  of 


KILLED  THE  MOTHER  OF  THE  REBEL  LEADER  143 

Cebu  was  forced  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  governor  of  that 
island.  The  united  armies  forced  the  insurgent  leader  to  the  wall  ; 
he  was  captured  and  executed,  and  his  head  was  placed  at  the  top  of 
a  high  pole  in  the  market  place,  as  a  warning  to  those  who  aspired  to 
break  away  from  the  Spanish  rule.  Some  of  the  prisoners  were  gar- 
roted,  others  were  publicly  executed  with  arrows,  and  still  another 
was  horribly  tortured  by  being  burned  to  death. 

Seven  years  later  the  province  of  Surigao  in  the  East  of  Min 
danao  Island  turned  against  their  conquerors.  They  burned  churches, 
killed  priests  and  laid  waste  the  territory  for  the  space  of  three  years 
before  they  could  be  suppressed.  Twenty  years  later,  in  1649,  an 
attempt  was  made  by  the  Spanish  to  secure  troops  for  the  arsenal  at 
Cavite,  from  the  natives  of  Samar  Island.  This  did  not  seem  to 
please  the  tribes  there,  so  they  rebelled,  sacked  and  burned  the 
churches  along  the  coast,  and  gradually  increased  in  number  and 
power,  until  it  was  found  necessary  to  send  not  only  large  forces  of 
troops,  but  armed  vessels  after  them. 

KILLED    THE    MOTHER    OF    THE    REBEL    LEADER. 

The  leader  of  the  insurrection,  a  native  headman  named 
Sumoroy,  fled  to  the  hills  to  escape  capture.  Not  being  able  to  lay 
their  hands  upon  him,  the  Spaniards  captured  his  aged  mother  and 
literally  tore  her  to  pieces  in  their  fiendish  desire  to  revenge  them 
selves  upon  the  insurgent  chief.  It  sounds  like  the  stories  made  so 
familiar  in  later  years  in  Cuba,  where  thousands  of  women  and  chil 
dren  were  sacrificed  to  awful  atrocities,  because  members  of  their 
families  had  dared  to  take  up  arms  against  the  rule  of  Spain.  But 
Sumoroy  reached  his  limit  at  last.  He  was  able  to  withstand  or 
evade  the  attacks  of  his  enemies,  but  like  all  such  leaders  he  could 
not  avoid  the  treachery  of  his  own  people.  He  was  betrayed  and 
captured,  and  in  the  manner  of  the  Spanish  at  that  time,  was 
beheaded,  and  his  head  placed  upon  a  pole  as  a  horrible  example. 

This,  too,  was  the  fate  of  another  rebel  chieftain  ten  years  later, 
who  surrendered  on  promise  of  pardon,  only  to  find  himself  a  martyr. 
These  riots  of  1649,  as  ^ie  insurgents  uprisings  were  then  termed  by 
the  Spanish,  extended  to  other  provinces.  In  Albay,  in  Masbate 
Island,  in  Zamboanga,  in  Cebu,  in  Caraga  and  Butuan,  many  Euro- 


144  FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

peans  fell  victims  of  the  fury  of  the  insurgents.      In  the  latter  place 
the  Spanish  method  of  dealing"  with  the  rebels  was  well  illustrated. 

The  captain  there  offered  pardon  to  all  who  would  yield  to  the 
rule  of  Spain,  and  the  insurgent  army,  poor,  half-starved  and  home 
less,  as  most  of  such  armies  must  naturally  be,  came  in  large  num 
bers  to  accept  the  proffered  friendship  and  pardon  of  the  authorities. 
The  result  is  an  old  story  in  these  days,  when  the  Spanish  idea  of 
honor  is  so  well  understood.  Most  of  those  who  surrendered  were 
killed  ;  others  were  made  slaves,  and  still  others  were  sent  to  the 
galleys  for  life. 

In  1660  one  of  the  most  notable  of  all  the  native  uprisings  took 
place.  It  seems  that  the  people  had  been  very  much  harassed  by 
the  Spanish  authorities,  and  placed  in  a  condition  which  was  little 
better  than  slavery,  though  not  actually  such  in  name.  They  were 
forced  to  do  work  without  recompense,  and  finally  they  rebelled  in 
Pampanga.  The  revolt  spread  all  through  the  country,  and  a  cer 
tain  Andres  Malong  declared  himself  King.  Word  was  sent  right 
and  left  to  the  adjacent  countries  that  the  natives  must  revolt  against 
the  Spanish,  or  incur  the  new  King's  displeasure.  Consequently 
three  good-sized  armies  were  formed — one  of  6,000,  another  of 
3,000,  and  another,  commande'd  by  King  Malong  himself,  of  2,000 
followers.  As  they  moved  on,  they  gradually  increased  in  strength 
and  equipment,  until  finally  they  reached  a  total  of  40,000  men. 
But  again  history  repeated  itself,  and  a  much  smaller  force  of  Span 
iards,  better  trained  and  better  armed,  routed  them  completely,  and 
the  rebel  leaders  eventually  suffered  the  same  penalty  of  patriotism- 
death.  And  so  the  roll  of  insurgent  uprisings  goes  on  from  genera 
tion  to  generation,  each  decade  furnishing  its  new  leaders  and  new 
struggles  for  freedom,  all  ending  in  the  same  way,  in  annihilation 
and  death. 

FIREWORKS    MISTAKEN    FOR    SIGNAL. 

Coming  down  to  the  end  of  the  present  century,  we  find  daring 
efforts  still  going  on  to  win  back  freedom  to  the  natives.  The  near 
est  approach  to  success  probably  the  insurgents  ever  had  was  in  1872. 
Cavite,  the  stronghold  guarding  the  city  of  Manila,  was  the  centre  of 
the  plot.  Some  of  the  native  soldiers  in  the  arsenal  there  were  in 
the  conspiracy,  and  it  was  arranged  that  when  everything  was  ready 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  DR.  RIZAL  I45 

for  them  to  strike  the  decisive  blow  on  which  they  had  staked  their 
all,  a  flight  of  rockets  at  night  should  announce  the  fact  to  all  of  the 
tribes.  But  fate  played  a  strong  hand  against  the  fighting  people. 
Nearby  the  arsenal  of  Cavite  a  throng  of  people  gathered  on  that 
day  to  celebrate  one  of  the  many  feasts  which  mark  the  life  of  the 
people.  At  this  feast,  as  a  sort  of  parting  entertainment,  fireworks 
were  sent  off.  The  waiting  tribes  in  and  near  Cavite,  mistook  these 
fireworks  for  a  signal  that  the  time  was  ready  to  strike,  and  so  they 
unwittingly  began  the  revolt  without  the  support  of  their  comrades 
across  the  bay.  They  succeeded  in  taking  possession  of  the  arsenal, 
and  made  an  attack  upon  many  of  the  influential  Spaniards  in  the 
city  ;  but  before  they  could  get  any  further,  and  before  the  other 
troops  could  reach  them,  the  government  army  had  been  called  out 
and  soon  retook  the  arsenal  and  made  the  struggling  insurgents  pri 
soners. 

This  ended  the  best  organized  and  the  most  successful  struggle 
ever  made  by  the  Filipinos,  up  to  the  time  of  the  latest  struggle, 
begun  in  1896.  It  was  due,  as  indeed  was  all  of  the  other  uprisings, 
largely  to  the  oppressions  of  the  friars,  and  to  the  taxes  which  were 
laid  upon  the  people  by  the  Spanish. 

THE    EXECUTION    OF    DR.     RIZAL. 

This  final  struggle  for  liberty  left  a  pathetic  record  of  martyr 
dom,  heroism  and  sacrifice.  One  of  the  central  figures  of  its  mar 
tyrs  was  Dr.  Jose  Rizal 

Dr.  Rizal  was  perhaps  the  greatest  man  that  the  native  uprisings 
have  ever  known.  Had  he  lived,  he  would  to-day  be  the  man  of 
power  among  the  insurgents  ;  and  had  he  lived,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  the  natives  would  never  have  fought  against  the  United  States 
and  taken  up  arms  against  the  people  who  offered  them  a  new  lease 
of  life,  under  new  and  free  institutions,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
protection  of  the  greatest  nation  in  the  world. 

The  story  of  Dr.  Rizal  is,  in  the  main,  the  story  of  every  Fili 
pino  patriot,  and  yet  there  is  an  added  pathos  in  his  romance,  because 
here  was  a  man  educated  far  above  the  rank  and  file  of  any  nation  ; 
a  poet,  whose  works  will  live  forever  in  Philippine  literature  ;  a  man 
of  personal  force  and  magnetism;  an  orator,  an  essayist,  a  historian 


146  FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

of  no  ordinary  ability;  a  man,  whose  crime  was  patriotism,  whose 
only  offence  was  the  outpouring  of  a  pent-up  soul  against  the  cruel 
wrongs  and  the  barbaric  indignities  which  were  inflicted,  not  espe 
cially  upon  himself,  but  upon  his  countrymen,  who  were  dearer  to 
him  than  self. 

This  talented  man,  who  is  known  among  the  Filipinos  as  "  the 
Talego  Martyr,"  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  that  name.  While  still 
young,  he  showed  extraordinary  gifts,  and  it  was  decided  to  send  him 
to  Europe  to  receive  his  education.  He  went  to  Spain  and  to 
France,  and  for  some  years  studied  hard  and  trained  himself  up,  not 
only  as  a  physician,  but  for  the  position  which  he  afterwards  took  as 
the  leader  of  his  people  and  the  foremost  literary  man  that  his  island 
has  given  to  the  world. 

Burning  beneath  the  treatment  which  his  people  received,  he 
turned  his  keen  pen  to  writing  essays  against  Spanish  oppression. 
He  did  not  spare  either  priests,  or  officials,  and  for  this  he  was  exiled 
to  the  island  of  Dapitan.  But  even  in  exile  he  did  not  cease  his 
writings  in  behalf  of  his  countrymen.  While  there  he  met  a  woman 
of  Irish  parentage,  a  Miss  Taufer,  with  whom  he  fell  desperately  in 
love.  She,  in  turn,  reciprocated  the  affection  of  this  brilliant  young 
Filipino,  and  they  were  engaged  to  be  married.  Before  the  cere 
mony  took  place,  however,  Dr.  Rizal  was  re-arrested  and  brought 
back  to  Manila.  From  then  on  he  was  a  prisoner,  never  knowing 
liberty  again.  He  was  sent  to  Madrid  and  then  brought  back  to 
Manila,  where  he  was  sentenced  to  death,  He  was  charged  with 
conspiracy  against  the  government  of  Spain. 

When  it  was  announced  that  this  brave  young  patriot  was  to 
give  up  his  life,  Miss  Taufer  went  to  the  Spanish  officials  and  begged 
that  she  might  be  allowed  to  wed  Dr.  Rizal,  even  though  he  had  but 
a  few  days  to  live.  The  officials  granted  her  request,  perhaps  think 
ing  that  it  would  be  little  comfort  to  the  man,  and  might  add  to  the 
terrors  of  death. 

What  a  tragic  scene  was  there,  as  the  two  young  lovers  stood 
together  and  were  wedded  in  the  little  cell,  the  barred  windows  of 
which  barely  admitted  light  enough  to  show  the  features  of  the  priest 
who  performed  the  ceremony  !  The  solemn  words  of  the  rites,  which 
seemed  more  like  those  of  a  funeral  than  of  a  wedding,  almost  stuck 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  DR.  RIZAL 


147 


in  the  throat  of  the  priest  as  he  proceeded.  Together  the  bride  and 
groom  waited  for  the  summons  to  come.  It  came  all  too  soon.  Dr. 
Rizal  was  led  away  to  the  execution,  which  was  to  take  place  on  the 
Luneta,  the  chief  promenade  of  the  city.  Like  all  of  the  execu 
tions,  it  was  a  great  public  event — almost  a  festival.  Thousands  of 
people  gathered  around  to  see  this  frail  young  man,  whose  courage 
was  great  and  whose  conviction  and  patriotism  were  strong,  stand 
up  before  his  executioners  and  give  his  life,  a  martyr  to  his  cause 
and  to  his  people. 

Rizal  displayed  great  fortitude  to  the  end.  He  dressed  with 
care,  and  walked  composedly  between  two  priests  to  the  place  where 
he  was  to  be  shot.  Upon  his  arrival  in  the  centre  of  the  plaza,  he 
recognized  several  of  his  friends  in  the  vast  crowd  of  people  and 
spoke  to  them  cheerfully.  Eight  native  soldiers  made  up  the  firing 
party.  Rizal  looked  at  them  carefully,  and  seemed  to  take  a  fare 
well  gaze  at  the  sky  and  the  familiar  scenes  around  him,  before  he 
knelt  down,  about  ten  feet  from  the  muzzles  of  the  rifles.  He  kissed 
the  crucifix,  and,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  rippling,  sunlit  waters 
of  the  bay,  he  received  the  volley  of  eight  bullets  in  his  back, 
dying  instantly. 

Another  bullet  was  put  into  his  body,  to  make  sure  that  life  was 
extinct,  and  then  the  band  struck  up  a  lively  air,  and  the  crowd,  some 
with  curiosity,  others  with  veneration  and  sadness,  passed  by  the 
prostrate  figure,  and  the  romance  of  the  life  of  Jose  Rizal  was 
ended. 

His  widow,  fired  with  revenge,  set  off  on  foot  to  the  rebel  camp 
at  Imus,  where  she  was  hailed  as  a  modern  Joan  of  Arc.  She 
assumed  command  of  a  company  of  insurgents  and  took  the  field, 
winning  more  than  one  splendid  victory.  Later  she  determined  that 
she  could  be  of  more  assistance  to  the  cause  by  personally  appealing 
for  financial  aid  among  sympathizers.  She  came  to  this  country,  and 
appeared  in  leading  circles  at  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Chicago  and 
other  places. 

The  farewell  thoughts  of  this  hero  and  martyr,  Dr.  Rizal,  are 
interesting.  The  night  before  his  execution  he  wrote  them  down  in 
a  poem  on  Spain,  which  is  still  preserved  in  the  insurgent  archives. 
The  translation  is  as  follows : 


148  FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

Farewell,  adored  fatherland  !    Our  Eden  lost,  farewell  ! 
Farewell,  O  sun-lov'd  region,  pearl  of  the  Eastern  sea  ! 
Gladly  I  die  for  thy  dear  sake  ;  yea,  thou  knowest  well 
Were  my  sad  life  more  radiant  far  than  mortal  tongue  could  tell 
Yet  would  I  give  it  gladly,  joyously  for  thee. 

On  blood-stained  fields  of  battle,  fast  locked  in  madd'ning  strife, 
Thy  sons  have  dying  blest  thee,  untouched  by  doubt  or  fear. 
No  matter  wreaths  of  laurel ;  no  matter  where  our  life 
Ebbs  out,  on  scaffold,  or  in  combat,  or  under  torturer's  knife, 
We  welcome  Death,  if  for  our  hearths,  or  for  our  country  dear. 

I  die  while  dawn's  rich  Iris-hues  are  staining  yet  the  sky, 
Heralds  of  the  freer  day  still  hidden  from  our  view 
Behind  the  night's  dark  mantle.      And  should  the  morning  nigh 
Need  crimson,  shed  my  heart's  blood  quickly,  freely,  let  it  dye 
The  new-born  light  with  th'  glory  of  its  ensanguined  hue. 

My  dreams  when  yet  were  ling' ring  my  childhood's  careless  years, 
My  dreams,  my  hopes,  when  vigor  pulsed  in  my  youthful  heart, 
Were  that  one  day,  gem  of  the  East,  thine  eyes,  undimmed  with  tears, 
Might  darkly  glow,  that  I  might  see  unwrinkled,  free  from  fears 
Thy  lofty  brow  wherefrom  for  aye  all  blushes  should  depart. 

Hail  unto  thee,  dreams  of  my  life  !     My  dying  soul  doth  cry 
All  hail  to  thee  !     And  ye  I  hail,  my  aspirations  deep 
And  ardent  !     Oh,  how  sweet  it  is  to  fall  beneath  thy  sky, 
To  die  that  thou  mayst  live,  and,  for  thy  welfare  high, 
In  thine  enchanted  bosom  eternally  to  sleep! 

If  on  my  grave,  midst  the  thick  grass,  thou  shouldst  see  spring  one  day 

A  simple,  humble  flow' ret,  Life  victor  over  Death, 

Sweet  symbol  of  my  loving  soul,  ah,  kiss  the  dew  away. 

Approach  to  it  thy  gentle  lips,  that  in  my  tomb  I  may 

Feel  on  my  brow  thy  tender  sigh,  the  soft  warmth  of  thy  breath . 

Let  o'er  my  grave  the  placid  moon  shed  its  soft  tranquil  light  : 
Let  cool  dawn's  fleeting  splendor  shine  on  my  resting  place  ; 
Let  the  deep  murmur  of  the  wind  caress  it  in  the  night ; 
And  if  above  my  lonely  cross  it  stay  its  restless  flight, 
'Twill  breathe  a  prayer  of  peace  and  chant  a  canticle  of  grace. 


THE  FAREWELL  THOUGHTS  OF  DR.  RIZAL  149 

Oh,  let  the  rain  rise  pure  to  Heav'n  beneath  the  sun's  hot  rays 
And  carry  to  the  throne  of  God  my  loving,  lasting  request. 
Let  friendly  soul's  weep  for  my  end,  and  in  the  after  days, 
On  evenings  clear,  when  o'er  my  tomb  some  gentle  being  prays, 
Pray  also  thou,  O  Fatherland,  for  my  eternal  rest. 

Pray  for  all  those  who  died  alone,  betrayed,  in  wretchedness, 
For  those  who  suffered  for  thy  sake  torments  and  misery, 
For  our  poor,  loving  mothers'  hearts,  who  weep  in  bitternes, 
For  widows,  tortured  captives  and  orphans  in  distress, 
And  pray  for  thy  dear  self  that  thou  may'st  finally  be  free. 

And  when  dark  night  enshrouds  in  gloom  the  silent  cemetery, 
When  but  the  lonely  dead  are  left  watching  by  the  sea, 
Disturb  not  their  repose,  nor  dispel  the  mystery, 
Perchance  then  shalt  thou  hear  cither  or  psaltery 
Well  tuned,  '  tis  I,  my  country  dear,  '  tis  I  singing  to  thee. 

And  when  the  memory  of  my  grave  has  faded  from  the  mind, 
When  my  tomb  bears  no  cross  nor  stone  to  mark  where  I  lie  dead, 
Plough  o'er  the  spot,  turn  up  the  earth,  and  scatter  to  the  wind 
My  ashes  ere  they  turn  to  naught ;  let  them  go  unconfined 
To  form  thy  rolling  meadows  and  flower-covered  glade. 

No  matter,  then,  if  all  forget;  still,  still  shall  I  be  near; 
Still  shall  I  breathe  thy  od'rous  air,  still  wander  in  thy  ways, 
And  dwell  in  space,  a  thrilling  note  loud-sounding  in  thine  ear ; 
I  shall  be  perfume,  light  and  shade,  sound,  color,  refrain  clear, 
Telling  forever  of  my  faith  and  singing  thy  dear  praise. 

Farewell,  adored  country  !     I  leave  my  all  with  thee, 
Beloved  Filipinos,  whose  soil  my  feet  have  trod, 
I  leave  with  thee  my  life's  loves  deep.      I  go  where  all  are  free  ; 
I  go  where  are  no  tortures,  where  th'  oppressor's  power  shall  be 
Destroyed,  where  faith  kills  not,  where  He  who  reigns  is  God. 

Farewell,  my  parents,  brothers,  all  friends  of  my  infancy, 
Dear  fragments  of  my  heart,  once  to  my  bosom  pressed 
Round  our  lost  hearth.      Give  thanks  to  God  in  glad  tranquillity 
That  after  day's  long,  weary  hours  I  sleep  eternally; 
Farewell  lov'd  beings,  stranger  sweet ;  to  die  is  but  to  rest. 

JOSE  RIZAL. 


1 5o  FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

Another  insurgent  leader,  who  was  executed  in  Manila  for  the 
part  he  took  in  this  same  uprising,  was  Francesco  Venezuela.  He 
was  a  mestizo  (half-caste)  by  birth,  but  educated  himself  far  beyond 
the  others  of  his  class.  He  became  one  of  the  great  factors  in  the 
struggle,  and  in  his  house  the  great  uprising  was  planned.  He  made 
one  fatal  error,  however.  He  wrote  to  the  Premier  of  Japan,  know 
ing  that  that  nation  had  long  coveted  the  Philippines,  and  asked  for 
aid  against  the  Spanish,  at  the  same  time  disclosing  the  plans  of 
organization,  and  promising  rich  spoils  in  the  division  of  territory. 
This  communication  somehow  or  other  found  its  way  back  to  the 
Spanish  Governor,  and  it  is  said  that  the  aid  of  the  Church  was 
sought,  and  that  Venezuela's  wife  was  so  influenced  by  the  priests  at 
confessional  that  she  finally  told  the  secrets  of  the  insurgents  and 
betrayed  her  own  husband. 

Venezuela  was  taken  prisoner  with  three  others,  who  were  with 
him  in  his  home.  They  were  tried,  condemned,  and  executed.  Just 
before  the  fatal  volley  was  fired,  the  secretary  of  one  of  the  officers 
of  Spain  approached  Venezuela,  and,  holding  a  paper  before  his  eyes 
so  that  he  might  read  it,  said  :  "  Sign  this  and  your  life  shall  be 
spared,  with  safe  conduct  to  any  foreign  country  you  may  wish."  The 
paper  was  a  promise  to  disclose  the  names  of  the  leaders  who  were 
associated  with  him  in  the  uprising,  their  source  of  supplies  and 
their  plans.  Venezuela  drew  himself  up  and  said,  "  Was  it  for  this 
that  you  have  postponed  your  holiday  ?  You  need  not  have  done  so  ; 
you  may  kill  me  now,  for  you  will  have  many  more  to  deal  with.  This 
is  but  just  the  beginning,"  and  so  he  and  his  three  silent  comrades,  to 
each  of  whom  this  offer  of  life  was  made,  turned  to  death  like  brave 
men. 

The  first  volley  did  not  kill  Venezuela,  and  so  volley  after  volley 
was  ordered,  until  all  of  the  bodies  were  filled  with  bullets.  Then,  as 
if  to  clinch  the  horrors  of  the  whole  spectacle,  one  of  the  soldiers  ad 
vanced,  and  placing  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  against  Venezuela's  head, 
literally  blew  his  brains  over  the  ground. 

HORRIBLE    ATROCITIES    OF    THE    SPANISH. 

The  atrocities  of  the  Spanish  during  this  last  terrible  struggle 
for  independence  are  too  horrible  to  contemplate.  The  instruments 


THE  TERRIBLE  " BLACK  HOLE"  OF  MANILA  151 

of  torture  used  during  the  Spanish  Inquisition  three  centuries  ago, 
which  had  been  kept  in  the  monasteries  of  Manila,  were  brought  out 
and  used  to  extort  confession  from  insurgent  prisoners.  More  than 
3,000  suspects  were  maltreated  or  hurled  into  the  famous  "  Black 
Hole"  of  Manila. 

An  eyewitness  described  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  as  follows  : 
"  The  prisoner  is  taken  before  the  military  court,  bound  with  cords 
that  cut  into  the  flesh,  and  subjected  to  examination.  If  his  answers 
are  not  satisfactory — and  they  ordinarily  are  not,  unless  guilt  is  con 
fessed — he  is  taken  to  the  torture  chamber.  After  being  stripped,  he 
is  first  subjected  to  whipping  with  rattans,  two  hundred  blows  or  more 
if  the  victim  is  especially  obstinate.  If  this  is  not  successful,  thumb 
screws  are  brought  into  play,  and  the  poor  wretch,  already  half  dead 
from  the  beating,  is  obliged  to  undergo  the  exquisite  pain  of  these 
little  instruments.  These  torturing  machines  are  the  same  as  actually 
used  in  the  days  of  the  Inquisition.  This  programme  of  torture  is 
well  known  to  be  a  fact  ;  the  natives  add  more  tortures  to  it.  They 
say  prisoners  are  placed  against  a  board  wall  and  small  nails  are 
driven  through  each  finger,  holding  the  arms  out  as  in  a  crucifixion, 
until  the  suffering  man  cries  out  a  "  confession."  In  other  cases  the 
suspects  are  so  bound  as  to  be  unable  to  move  from  one  position. 
Water  is  so  arranged  above  them  that  drop  after  drop  falls  on  their 
heads,  causing  great  torture." 

THE    TERRIBLE    "  BLACK    HOLE  "    OF    MANILA. 

Another  of  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection  tells  of  the  awful 
"  Black  Hole"  of  Manila,  which  was  a  small  dungeon  under  the  bas 
tions  of  San  Sebastian  Intra  Muros.  The  room  was  forty  feet  square, 
sloping  steeply  towards  the  sea.  At  the  time  he  was  in  it  there  were 
one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  prisoners  in  that  little  place,  huddled 
together  like  rats.  In  the  roof  was  a  grated  hole  three  feet  square; 
on  the  floor,  on  the  lowest  side  next  to  the  sea,  there  was  another 
hole.  These  were  the  only  means  of  ventilation.  The  prisoners 
nearest  the  grating  could  barely  breathe,  and  the  others  panted  like 
dogs  and  tore  their  clothes  in  the  effort  to  keep  from  falling  dead 
under  the  smothering  heat.  Every  once  in  a  while  the  grating  in 
the  ceiling  above  would  be  opened  and  a  man,  more  dead  than  alive, 


IS2  FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

would  be  hurled  in  upon  the  living  mass  below.  The  Spaniards 
seemed  to  enjoy  watching  these  human  rats  sway  and  crush  each 
other  beneath  the  grating,  and  they  came,  now  and  then,  to  watch 
them,  laughing  at  their  death  struggles. 

During  the  day  one  of  the  men  was  taken  out,  only  to  be  thrust 
back  sometime  afterward  with  his  eyes  gouged  out  and  his  feet 
gashed  and  burned  with  fire.  His  brojther,  who  was  also  a  prisoner 
there,  looked  at  him  in  frenzy,  and  the  next  time  the  grating  was 
opened  he  sprang  up  on  the  backs  of  the  other  prisoners  and  grabbed 
the  neck  of  a  Spanish  lieutenant  who  was  peering  in.  Several  Span 
ish  soldiers  came  running  to  the  help  of  their  comrade.  They  used 
their  swords  freely,  but  the  man  hung  to  the  officer  like  a  demon,  and 
then  finally  they  thrust  their  swords  deep  into  the  prisoner's  chest 
and,  as  he  fell  back  on  his  horror-stricken  fellows  below,  the  lieutenant 
whom  he  had  seized,  groaned  and  expired.  He  had  been  choked  to 
death.  As  the  day  wore  on,  the  men  became  crazed  and  trampled  on 
each  other  in  their  effort  to  get  air.  When  night  fell,  the  tide  of  the 
ocean  rose  inch  by  inch  until  it  reached  the  orating  down  at  the  end 

J  o  o 

of  the  room.  The  sea-water  began  coming  in,  and  those  who  had 
not  been  suffocated  now  faced  the  terrors  of  drowning.  It  was  a 
night  of  awful  torture.  In  the  morning  it  was  found  that  fifty-four 
men  had  been  smothered  to  death  or  drowned  ;  twenty  others  were 
so  far  gone  that  they  could  not  recover.  The  prisoner  who  tells  this 
story  of  horror  feigned  death  and  was  taken  out  with  the  others,  and 
managed  eventually  to  make  his  escape. 

But  still  the  revolution  went  on,  under  the  leadership  of  Emilio 
Aguinaldo.  The  method  of  fighting  which  the  insurgents  adopted 
was  such  that  it  was  possible  for  the  contest  to  be  continued  indefi 
nitely  and  at  great  cost  to  the  Spaniards.  The  insurgents  had  no 
money  and  needed  little.  They  had  sympathizers  all  over  the  coun 
try  and  lived  from  hand  to  mouth,  half  starved,  half  clothed  and 
almost  without  ammunition,  but  in  their  guerilla  warfare  they  were  able 
to  keep  the  Spaniards  constantly  harassed.  Several  important  bat 
tles  were  fought,  and  many  of  the  insurgents  met  the  fate  of  Dr. 
Rizal  through  execution.  Finally,  the  Governor-General  of  the 
islands  decided  that  it  was  cheaper  to  buy  out  the  insurgents  than 
to  fight  against  them,  and  so  Aguinaldo  and  his  fellow  leaders  of  the 


OTHER  INSURGENT  LEADERS  I  5  3 

insurrection  sold  out  their  countrymen  for  $800,000,  $400,000  of 
which  was  deposited  in  a  bank  in  Hong  Kong  in  cash,  and  the 
remainder  was  to  be  given  to  Aguinaldo  later. 

This  ended  the  war — not  a  very  creditable  or  honorable  ending 
to  a  struggle  for  liberty,  but  one  which  shows  some  of  the  insurgent 
leaders  in  their  true  light  as  men  who  are  willing  to  barter  away  any 
thing  for  gold,  and  men  who  are  in  insurrection  for  business  purposes. 
Aguinaldo  and  his  fellow,  under  the  terms  of  the  sale  of  their  coutry- 
men's  freedom,  promised  to  leave  the  country  and  return  no  more. 
They  went  to  China  and  there  got  into  a  wrangle  about  the  division 
of  the  spoils,  which  almost  got  into  court,  but  was  finally  settled 
outside. 

The  remaining  $400,000  was  not  paid  up  at  the  time  of  the 
advance  of  Admiral  Dewey  upon  Manila,  so  Aguinaldo,  notwith 
standing  the  fact  that  he  had  already  received  half  of  the  amount 
specified,  thought  he  was  absolved  from  the  terms  of  the  contract 
calling  for  his  staying  out  of  the  country,  and,  hoping  that  by  follow 
ing  in  the  wake  of  Dewey's  guns  he  might  profit  in  some  way,  he 
returned  to  Manila,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  insurgent  army 
once  more,  and  to-day  is  a  great  figure  in  the  insurgent  life  of  the 
Philippines,  a  traitor  to  his  own  countrymen,  a  traitor  to  the  Ameri 
cans,  who  befriended  him,  a  soldier  of  fortune  without  honor. 

OTHER  INSURGENT  LEADERS. 

The  insurgents  of  to-day  have  among  their  rank  a  number  of 
young  natives  who  have  had  the  benefit  of  a  good  education  and  who, 
consequently,  are  able  to  handle  their  ignorant  brethren  with  much 
skill.  Tedoro  Sandica,  who  has  been  made  the  Minister  of  Interior 
of  the  so-called  Revolutionary  Government,  is  a  civil  engineer,  who 
learned  his  profession  in  England  and  studied  for  some  time  in  Bel 
gium.  He  was  staying  in  Hong  Kong,  an  exile  from  his  country, 
when  Dewey  landed  there,  and  he  was  allowed  to  return  to  Manila 
on  one  of  Dewey's  vessels.  A  cousin  of  Aguinaldo,  by  the  name  of 
Baldomero  Aguinaldo,  is  one  of  the  prominent  leaders  of  the  insur 
rection,  and  has  been  since  its  beginning.  He  has  the  rank  of  gen 
eral,  and  has  recently  been  made  Minister  of  War  in  the  new  govern 
ment.  He  is  said  to  be  a  large  landowner  at  Cavite.  Gregorico 


FILIPINOS'  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM 

Gonzaga  is  another  well-known  patriot,  a  lawyer  of  some  ability,  who 
used  to  have  charge  of  Filipino  affairs  at  Hong  Kong,  and  before 
that  occupied  a  position  of  trust  under  the  Spanish  government,  hav 
ing  been  Attorney-General  for  the  Spanish  in  Visayas.  Other  leaders 
among  the  insurgents  are  Leandro  Ibarra,  who  is  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  and  Mariano  Trias,  who  is  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  under 
Aguinaldo. 

Senor  Felipe  Agoncillo,  whose  unsavory  career  in  the  United 
States  brought  him  into  much  prominence,  is  another  of  the  leading 
lights  connected  with  the  last  uprising  and  now  influential  in  the  new 
government.  He,  too,  has  a  good  European  education,  was  in  con 
trol  of  the  Junta  at  Honor  Kong;  for  some  time,  and  then  was  mven 

J  o  o  o 

the  important  mission  of  coming  to  America  and  trying  to  look  after 
the  affairs  of  the  Filipinos  in  this  country.  He  is  a  man  of  strong 
individuality  and  much  ability  in  many  ways. 

Such,  briefly,  are  some  of  the  men  who  have  been  closely  identi 
fied  with  the  efforts  of  the  Filipinos  to  regain  the  liberty  which  they 
lost  so  long  ago,  and  which  will  never  be  theirs  as  a  self-ruling,  inde 
pendent  nation.  To  them  has  come  a  new  liberty,  a  liberty  of  which 
they  know  nothing,  a  liberty  that  is  personal  freedom  under  staple 
government  without  oppression  and  without  disgrace,  a  liberty  which 
America  alone  could  o;ive. 

o 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Great  Value  of   the  Philippines 

Why  all  Nations  Yearn  for  what  the  United  States  has  Won. — Importance  from  the 
Strategic  Standpoint. — Immense  Wealth  and  Resources. — Exports  amounting  to 
over  $20,000,000. — Rich  in  Sugar,  Rice,  Hemp,  Coffee,  and  Cocoa,  Spices, 
and  a  Host  of  other  Things. — Untold  and  Untried  Mineral  Resources. 

EVERY  nation  in  the  world  envies  the  United  States  its  posses 
sion  of  the  Philippines.  There  is  no  power  in  the  eastern  hemi 
sphere,  which  would  not  jump  at  the  opportunity  to  possess 
this  land  of  wealth,  which,  besides  its  intrinsic  value,  is  tenfold  more 
precious  because  of  its  situation.  It  is  the  key  to  the  great  commerce 
of  the  far  East,  which  is  slowly  opening  up,  year  by  year,  and  which, 
in  the  future  of  the  new  China,  will  become  a  great  factor  in  the 
commercial  life  of  every  country  of  the  globe. 

As  a  station  in  time  of  war  it  is  unsurpassed — perhaps  the  best 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean — and  fortified  and  guarded,  it  will  be  invaluable 
to  the  United  States  as  long  as  she  possess  it. 

The  islands  themselves  are  filled  to  overflowing  with  riches,  the 
full  extent  of  which  is  little  dreamed  of  to-day. 

Spain  has  always  kept  her  colonies  from  improving  their  natural 
resources  and  turning  them  into  gold,  except  inasmuch  as  they  hap 
pened  to  personally  enrich  the  Governor-General  and  other  Spanish 
officials.  There  was  little  chance  for  energetic  foreigners  who  were 
willing  to  put  capital  into  business  to  gain  a  foothold  there.  Spain 
met  them  at  the  gate,  and  when  it  found  what  their  intentions  were 
it  slammed  the  gate  in  their  face.  However  some  large  firms  man 
aged  to  establish  places  of  business  at  Manila  and  in  some  of  the  other 
larger  towns,  and  these,  mostly  Englishmen,  are  a  great  power  in  the 
city. 

THE    TRADE    OF    THE    ISLANDS    EXCEEDED    $44,OOO,OOO. 

Notwithstanding  the  embargo  placed  upon  the  trade  of  the 
Philippines  with  other  nations,  the  statistics  show  that  at  high- 

155 


156  THE  GREAT  VALUE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

water  mark,  which  was  in  1880,  their  exports  and  imports  amounted 
to  $44,042,815.  Official  statistics  in  regard  to  the  foreign  commerce 
of  the  islands  are  not  available  for  the  years  subsequent  to  1894,  and 
estimates  since  that  time  are  based  on  reports  of  other  countries  in 
Bata,  procured  by  consular  officers  and  merchants  of  Manila. 

In  1894  the  total  trade  was  worth  $30,792,559,  of  which  $14,- 
250,717  were  imports  and  $16,541,842  exports.  These  figures  are 
unusually  small  compared  with  the  official  values  of  preceding  years. 
In  the  period  between  1880  and  1894  the  average  annual  value  of 
commerce  was  as  high  as  $37,566,005.  Many  fluctuations  occurred 
within  this  time,  but  taken  as  a  whole  there  was  a  noticeable  decline 
in  trade.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  this  decline  was  not  a  decrease 
in  the  quantity  of  the  merchandise  handled,  but  in  the  price,  which  fell 
off  considerably. 

The  distribution  cf  the  Philippine  commerce  among  the  various 
foreign  countries  of  the  world  is  a  matter  of  great  interest.  Taking 
the  year  1893,  which  is  the  last  year  in  which  there  are  official  statis 
tics  available,  it  is  shown  that  nearly  85  per  cent,  of  the  entire  import 
and  export  trade  of  the  islands  was  divided  among  four  countries, 
England,, China,  Spain  and  the  United  States.  Out  of  a  total  of 
$38,073,725  England  had  $14,207,832,  or  37.32  per  cent,  of  the 
total ;  China  is  credited  with  18.66  per  cent,  the  value  being  $7,104,- 
in,  most  of  which  went  to  Hong  Kong;  Spain  had  $7,024,128,  or 
18.45  Per  cent->  while  the  United  States  had  $3,951,603,  or  10.38  per 
cent.  ;  Germany  only  had  3.32  per  cent,  and  France  1.89  per  cent. 

Manila  is  rich  in  agricultural  products.  Hemp  and  sugar  form 
the  leading  staples  of  the  island,  and  these  are  the  principal  factors  in 
their  trade  ;  in  fact  together  they  make  up  75  per  cent,  of  the  total 
export  valuation.  After  these  are  leaf  tobacco,  cigars  and  cigarettes. 
At  one  time  coffee  was  also  one  of  the  leading  exports,  but  there  has 
been  a  great  decline  in  its  production,  because  of  the  ravages  of  an 
insect  which  laid  waste  the  coffee  groves.  But  these  are  not  all. 
Rich  woods,  oils,  rice,  cocoa,  spices,  indigo  and  many  other  things 
flourish  on  the  island,  and  if  properly  encouraged  would  yield  rich 
returns  to  the  investor. 

Recognizing  what  a  splendid  field  the  Philippines  offer  in  the 
line  of  agriculture,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  James  W.  Wilson, 


UNCLE  SAM  EXAMINES  HIS  NEW  POSSESSIONS  1 57 

on  behalf  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  sent  commis 
sioners  o-ver  there  to  see  what  the  future  promised  for  the  agriculture 
of  the  islands.  The  commissioners  returned  enthusiastic  for  the  new 
land  and  talked  of  it  as  though  it  were  a  veritable  Klondike,  as  yet 
undeveloped,  but  having  hidden  in  it  fortunes  for  those  who  know  how 
to  bring  them  forth. 

In  the  years  before  so  many  colonies  were  opened  up  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  there  were  a  few  who  went  to  the  Philippines 
and  made  large  fortunes  out  of  sugar  and  hemp,  but  more  recently 
there  were  hundreds  of  people  who  started  out  to  make  money  with 
only  one-tenth  of  the  capital  necessary  to  run  the  places  which  they 
had.  Consequently  they  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  money  lenders, 
so  that  they  barely  were  able  to  earn  an  honest  living  from  large 
estates  which  were  mortgaged  up  to  the  hilt,  and  were  really  owned 
by  the  men  who  advanced  money  on  them. 

The  value  of  sugar  cane  land  depends  largely  on  its  nearness  to 
a  port,  on  the  condition  of  the  sugar  market,  on  the  quality  of  the 
soil,  on  its  situation  in  the  island,  and  on  a  thousand  and  one  other 
things.  For  instance,  in  the  province  of  Bulacan,  which  is  near 
Manila,  land  which  yields  on  an  average  of  twenty-one  tons  an  acre  is 
worth  $115,  because  of  its  nearness  to  the  capital.  In  Pampanja 
province,  which  is  not  very  much  farther  away,  better  land,  yielding 
about  thirty  tons  an  acre,  is  worth  only  $75  ;  still  further  north,  in 
the  province  of  Neuva  Ecija,  where  it  is  difficult  to  get  the  sugar  to 
market,  land  which  will  yield  thirty-five  tons  of  sugar  to  the  acre  can 
be  bought  for  about  $30.  This  gives  an  indication  of  how  money 
might  be  made  by  the  introduction  of  railroad  and  other  facilities  for 
transportation. 

The  finest  sugar  cane  producing  island  in  the  Philippines  is  Ne- 
gros,  in  the  Visaya  district.  In  size  it  is  equal  to  Porto  Rico,  but 
only  half  of  it  is  opened  up,  simply  for  want  of  capital.  Some  appre 
ciation  may  be  had  of  exactly  what  that  means,  when  it  is  known  that 
this  island,  handicapped  as  it  is,  produced  in  1889  about  80,000  tons 
of  raw  sugar.  The  yield  of  sugar  cane  may  be  estimated  roughly  at 
from  thirty  to  forty  tons  an  acre,  and  the  price  varies  from  $35  to  $70 
an  acre.  The  sugar  from  Iloilo  is  chiefly  exported  to  the  United 
States,  where  there  is  demand  for  raw  material  only,  while  from 


158  THE  GREAT  VALUE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Manila  a  certain  quantity  of  refined  sugar  ready  for  consumption  is 
sent  to  Spain.  Consequently  they  have  some  high-class  European 
machinery  in  the  latter  place,  while  in  the  former  many  rough  mills, 
such  as  were  introduced  by  the  Chinese,  are  still  in  use. 

According  to  those  who  have  carefully  looked  into  the  matter, 
the  output  of  sugar  could  be  very  largely  increased  if  intelligent  care 
were  directed  to  the  seasons.  A  great  deal  of  sugar  is  lost  by  delay 
in  various  branches  of  cutting  and  milling  and  planting.  An  estate 
turning  out  five  hundred  tons  of  sugar  is  considered  a  large  one.  In 
the  northern  Philippines  the  plantations  are  worked  on  the  co-opera 
tive  principle.  The  landowner  divides  up  his  estate  and  sublets  it  to 
a  tenant  on  shares  ;  in  the  southern  plantations  the  system  is  different 
—men  are  paid  by  the  day  for  their  work.  The  total  export  of  sugar 
between  1886  and  1890  averaged  381,068,699  pounds  a  year.  The  top- 
notch  was  444,626,218  pounds  in  1889. 

Next  to  sugar,  rice  is  most  generally  cultivated,  although  not  so 
largely  exported.  It  is  the  staple  article  of  diet  of  the  native,  and  is 
grown  everywhere.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  however,  the  supply 
is  very  much  smaller  than  the  demand,  and  large  quantities  have  to 
be  imported  to  supply  the  natives  with  sufficient  for  food.  This  is 
due  partly  to  the  fact  that  it  pays  better  to  use  the  land  for  sugar 
cane  than  for  raising  rice,  and  many  of  the  owners  of  plantations  have 
converted  their  property,  formerly  used  for  rice,  into  the  raising  of 
sugar.  There  are  very  few  machines  for  successfully  cleaning  the 
rice,  owing  to  the  fact  that  any  machinery  which  is  good  for  one 
variety  of  rice  would  not  be  suitable  for  another,  and  there  are  so 
many  different  varieties,  that  the  loss  in  the  end  would  be  greater 
than  the  gain. 

The  number  of  different  kinds  of  rice  paddy  is  estimated  at 
twenty.  The  Macan  or  low  land  rice  is  much  finer  in  quality  than 
the  others,  and  usually  very  white.  There  is  rarely  more  than  one 
crop  a  year  obtained  of  this  rice,  while  of  the  poorer  qualities  as  many 
as  three  crops  can  be  secured.  The  seed  of  the  lowland  rice  is 
planted  in  June  on  what  is  called  the  "seeding  plot."  It  is  allowed 
to  grow  for  about  six  weeks  and  reaches  the  height  of  about  a  foot. 
Then  it  is  pulled  up  by  the  roots  and  transplanted  in  flooded  fields. 
Little  banks  of  earth  are  placed  all  around  the  fields,  so  that  the 


THE  TERRIBLE  PLAGUES  OF  LOCUSTS  I59 

water  cannot  run  off,  and  just  before  the  plants  are  placed  in  them 
the  fields  are  plowed  up.  Then  the  planters  go  along  with  their  bun 
dles  of  plants,  and,  picking  them  out  one  by  one,  stick  them  into  the 
mud.  This  to  the  ordinary  mind  seems  like  a  very  long  and  laborious 
operation,  but  the  natives  are  experts  in  the  transplanting,  and  it  does 
not  take  them  as  long  as  one  would  think  to  get  over  a  large  field. 

It  takes  about  four  months  for  the  rice  to  ripen.  Harvest  is 
usually  begun  at  the  end  of  November.  The  paddy  is  made  into 
stacks  at  the  end  of  January,  and  about  the  middle  of  April  the  rice 
is  separated  from  the  straw.  This  is  done  in  a  good  many  ways. 
Some  flail  it,  others  beat  it  out  with  their  feet,  while  still  others,  par 
ticularly  around  Cavite,  spread  the  sheaves  out  and  trot  a  number  of 
ponies  around  over  it.  There  is  not  much  money  in  rice-raising,  as 
it  is  carried  on  at  present,  but  it  is  probable  with  the  introduction  of 
new  ideas  and  machinery  instead  of  human  hands,  a  rice  farm  might 
be  made  to  pay  a  good  dividend. 

THE    TERRIBLE    PLAGUES    OF    LOCUSTS. 

One  of  the  great  troubles  with  which  planters  both  of  rice  and 
of  sugar  have  to  contend  is  the  plague  of  locusts.  They  come  in 
swarms  of  millions  at  a  time,  and  travellers  state  that  they  are  so 
thick  that  while  the  locusts  are  passing  by,  the  trees  on  the  other  side 
are  not  visible.  Mr.  Foreman,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  observers 
wbo  has  ever  written  about  the  Philippines,  describes  one  experience 
that  he  had,  as  follows  :  "  Sailing  along  the  antique  coast  one  evening, 
I  observed  on  the  fertile  shore  a  large,  brown  colored  plateau.  For 
the  moment  I  thought  it  was  a  tract  of  land  which  had  been  cleared 
by  fire,  but  on  nearing  it  I  perceived  that  countless  numbers  of  locusts 
had  settled  on  several  fields.  We  put  in  quite  close  to  them,  and  I 
fired  off  a  revolver,  the  noise  of  which  caused  them  to  move  off 
slowly  in  a  column." 

These  locusts  increase  and  multiply  rapidly.  The  new-born 
insects  are  not  able  to  fly  until  they  are  about  ten  days  old,  so  they 
devastate  the  fields  and  practically  clean  them  of  their  crop.  A  large 
mass  of  locusts  will  destroy  the  crop  for  miles  and  miles  in  a  single 
night.  The  way  to  get  rid  of  them  is  a  problem.  The  method 
employed  for  the  young  locusts  is  to  build  a  barrier  at  one  side  of  the 


160  THE  GREAT  VALUE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

field,  dig  a  pit  in  front  of  it,  and  then  put  a  small  army  of  men  around 
the  other  three  sides  and  let  them  beat  around  until  they  scare  the 
young  locusts  into  jumping  in  heaps  in  the  pit.  Sometimes  twenty 
tons  of  locusts  are  destroyed  on  one  plantation  in  one  season.  Noise 
is  the  great  aid  in  ridding  a  place  of  the  winged  pests  ;  the  natives 
take  tin  cans  and  drums  and  anything  else  that  makes  a  sound  and 
scare  the  locusts  so  that  they  fly  away.  Other  natives  light  fires  to 
smoke  them  out.  Some  of  the  natives  use  the  locusts  as  food,  frying 
them  into  what  they  call  a  very  delicious  dish. 

A    GREAT    TRADE    IN    MANILA    HEMP. 

Next  to  the  trade  in  sugar,  the  most  money  has  been  made  up  to 
the  present  time  in  hemp,  which  is  a  wild  species  of  plantain  found 
in  many  parts  of  the  island.  It  is  something  like  the  banana  plant, 
and  only  experts  can  tell  the  difference.  The  hemp  grows  best  on 
sloping  land.  The  tree  in  the  islands  reaches  an  average  height  of 
ten  feet,  from  which  the  fine  fibre  is  drawn  out  by  hand  with  a  knife, 
and  without  killing  the  tree  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  do 
this  by  machinery,  but  so  far  nothing  satisfactory  has  been  produced. 
The  plant  requires  three  years  to  arrive  to  a  state  in  which  the  fibre 
can  be  taken  out.  One  of  the  advantages  in  the  raising  of  hemp  is 
that  the  clearing  of  other  trees  from  the  plantations  is  not  necessary, 
inasmuch  as  the  plants  thrive  best  in  the  shade.  The  great  drawback 
in  hemp  plantation  is  the  fact  that  the  planter  has  to  wait  three  years 
at  least  before  he  can  get  his  money  back  or  reap  any  profit  from  it. 
The  risk  after  that  period  is  comparatively  small. 

One  of  the  great  difficulties  in  the  handling  of  a  hemp  planta 
tion  by  the  European  is  due  to  the  laziness  of  the  native.  If  left  to 
himself  he  cuts  the  plant  at  any  period  during  its  maturity,  although 
he  is  perfectly  aware  that  there  are  certain  periods  at  which,  if  cut, 
the  fibre  is  much  more  valuable  than  at  others.  The  native,  when  he 
is  hard  up,  strips  a  few  of  the  trees,  leaving  them  exposed  to  the  rain 
and  air  to  soften,  as  the  fibre  may  be  more  easily  withdrawn  then.  It 
is  no  loss  to  him  that  the  fibre  discolors,  and  is  therefore  not  so  valu 
able.  He  has  tricks  of  the  trade,  which  the  European  soon  becomes 
used  to.  He  delivers  this  colored  fibre  at  night  instead  of  in  day 
time,  first  to  conceal  the  fact  that  it  is  colored,  and  secondly  so  that 


ON  A  COFFEE  PLANTATION  !6i 

the  fibre  may  absorb  the  dew  at  night,  and  consequently  weigh 
more.  One  advantage  which  the  Manila  hemp  has  is  that  it  is  a 
monopoly,  for  no  other  place  produces  it,  consequently  there  is  no 
competition  in  the  trade  except  with  other  fibres  of  a  somewhat  similar 
nature.  Statistics  show  that  the  average  annual  export  of  Manila 
hemp  was  66,508  tons  between  1886  and  1890,  the  highest  being  in 
1888,  when  80,400  tons  were  exported.  Measured  in  value,  the 
Manila  hemp  imported  into  the  United  States  between  1888  and  1897 
formed  about  55  per  cent,  of  our  total  imports  from  the  Philippine 
Islands.  During  1897  tne  hemp  brought  from  Manila  was  valued  at 
$2,701,651  ;  and  in  1889,  owing  to  the  high  value  of  the  product,  the 
imount  imported  was  worth  $6,436,750. 

ON    A    COFFEE    PLANTATION. 

Coffee  is  another  industry  which  may  be  developed  greatly  in 
the  future.  The  chief  value  of  a  coffee  plantation  is  that  the  trees 
bear  profitably  for  twenty-five  years  before  they  become  practically 
useless,  and  some  even  longer  than  that.  The  best  coffee  comes  from 
the  provinces  of  Batangas,  Cavite,  and  La  Laguna.  The  report  of 
the  United  States  Government  shows  that  the  average  annual  export 
of  coffee  from  the  islands  between  1886  and  1890  amounted  to  12,752,- 
228  pounds.  The  price  of  a  good  plantation  is  about  $180  per  acre. 
Four  years  after  the  trees  are  planted  they  begin  to  give  coffee  that  is 
salable.  The  trees  flourish  best  on  high  land  and  in  hilly  districts,  and 
care  is  needed  to  keep  the  trees  shaded  from  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun. 
In  Batangas  great  pains  are  taken  in  this  matter,  and  consequently 
the  coffee  is  very  good.  The  cost  to  the  owner  of  having  the  planta 
tion  looked  after  is  about  one-half  of  the  produce,  so  supposing  the 
selling  price  is  up  to  the  average,  the  grower  makes  about  18  per 
cent,  upon  his  invested  capital.  One  year  out  of  every  five  is  sure  to 
give  a  short  crop,  consequently  it  pays  better  to  buy  from  the  small 
growers  than  to  envolve  a  great  deal  of  capital  in  one  large  estate. 

The  berries  from  the  tree  are  picked  by  the  women  and  children, 
and  then  washed  ;  afterward  they  are  dried  and  pounded  until  they 
are  perfectly  clean.  The  plantations  give  only  one  crop  a  year. 

The  tobacco  industry  was  introduced  into  the  islands  from  Mexico, 
and  has  grown  so  large  that  it  has  become  one  of  the  great  industries 


162  THE  GREAT  VALUE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  the  place.  The  tobacco  trade  was  in  charge  of  the  government 
for  a  long  time,  until  it  led  to  so  many  dishonorable  acts  on  the  part 
of  officials  that  the  monopoly  was  abolished.  In  1890,  20,102,387 
pounds  of  leaf  tobacco  and  3,027,384  pounds  of  cigars  and  cigarettes 
were  exported.  The  quality  of  the  tobacco  grown  there  cannot  com 
pare  with  that  of  the  best  Cuban  plant  according  to  experts,  but  is 
still  of  such  a  high  grade  as  to  make  it  capable  of  becoming  a  large 
factor  in  the  export  trade.  The  best  quality  is  produced  in  the  north 
ern  parts  of  Luzon,  the  choicest  being  from  Cagayan  and  La  Isabella. 
Some  of  the  southern  districts  raise  maize  or  Indian-corn  in 
place  of  rice.  It  is  pulverized  between  stone  or  hard  wood  slabs,  and 
then  eaten.  Cocoa  trees  are  plentiful,  growing  readily  in  damp  or  hot 
districts.  The  quality  is  very  good,  but  the  occupation  is  decidedly 
risky,  as  a  single  storm  will  throw  down  almost  ripen  fruit  and  ruin  a 
man  in  a  day,  and  disease  attacks  the  plants.  If  it  were  not  for  this 
a  cocoa  planter  would  make  handsome  profits. 

VALUABLE  TRACTS  OF  TIMBER  TREES. 

The  Philippines  are  remarkably  rich  in  valuable  timber  trees. 
Sapan  wood  is  found  in  most  of  the  islands.  It  is  crocked  and  hard, 
and  so  heavy  that  it  sinks  in  water,  but  is  susceptible  of  a  very  fine 
polish.  The  heart  of  the  branches  is  used  to  make  a  dye  known  in  the 
trade  as  "false  crimson."  There  were  15,438,072  pounds  of  sapan 
wood  exported  in  1888.  Many  other  fine  woods  are  produced  and  offer 
a  good  field  for  exports.  Among  them  is  what  is  called  "  narra,"  the 
mahogany  of  the  Philippines.  It  is  always  employed  in  Manila  in 
the  manufacture  of  furniture.  It  runs  in  a  variety  of  shades  from 
straw  colored  to  blood  red.  The  former  is  more  common,  but  a  Hare 
equally  valuable.  The  Filipinos  presented  Consul  Williams,  who 
took  such  a  great  interest  in  their  welfare,  with  a  splendid  piece  of 
this  mahogany  as  a  gift. 

The  fruits  of  the  island  are  not  very  fine,  compared  with  those 
of  America.  The  mango  is  most  abundant,  and  is  very  good.  Peo 
ple  eat  as  many  as  a  dozen  a  day  without  harm,  and  they  are  very 
cheap.  The  banana  is  plentiful  all  the  year  round.  It  grows  wild, 
but  is  also  largely  cultivated.  The  islands  also  yield  oranges"  lemons, 
and  plenty  of  pineapple. 


FORTUNES  IN  GOLD  WAITING  FOR  DISCOVERY  163 

The  Philippines  contain  vast  tracts  of  mineral  land,  filled  with 
gold,  copper  and  iron,  which  some  day  will  yield  untold  wealth  to  the 
world.  It  is  confidently  predicted,  by  many  who  have  looked  into  the 
matter,  that  the  gold  fields  of  the  archipelago  will  some  day  yield  an 
output  greater  even  than  that  of  the  Klondike,  and  we  all  may  live 
to  see  a  wild  rush  to  the  Philippines  similar  to  that  to  Australia 
years  ago,  to  California  in  '59,  and  to  the  Klondike  in  the  last  few 
years.  All  of  the  streams  on  the  eastern  side  of  Luzon  carry  gold 
down  from  the  mountains,  and  there  is  no  little  brook  which  does 
not  pan  at  least  a  little  yellow  color. 

FORTUNES    IN    GOLD    WAITING    FOR    DISCOVERY. 

The  overgrowth  of  the  islands  is  so  dense  that  ordinary  pro 
specting  for  gold  is  out  of  the  question,  but  as  the  country  becomes 
opened  up,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  fortunes  will  be  found  waiting 
for  discovery.  When  the  Dons  first  landed  in  the  Philippines  they 
found  gold  an  article  of  traffic  among  the  natives,  and  to-day,  outside 
of  the  large  towns,  uncoined  gold  is  used  extensively  as  a  medium  of 
exchange.  It  is  weighed  on  small  scales,  and  its  value  is  estimated 
at  about  $11  per  ounce,  owing  to  its  impurities.  It  is  known  that 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  gold  in  the  province  of  Benguet,  central 
Luzon,  and  also  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  Island  of  Mindanao, 
the  streams  there  are  particularly  rich. 

The  people  of  this  island  carry  gold  around  and  use  it  as  money. 
Their  method  of  obtaining  the  precious  metal  is,  of  course,  very 
primitive.  They  wash  the  sand  and  gravel  of  the  streams  in  wooden 
bowls,  seeking  the  golden  specks  which  fall  to  the  bottom.  In  other 
places  they  crush  the  rock  to  powder  and  then  treat  that  in  the  same 
way.  The  gold  occurs  about  three  feet  from  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  increases  in  quantity  to  a  depth  of  eighteen  feet.  The 
pieces  of  rock  are  carried  out  of  the  pits  in  baskets,  up  ladders  of 
bamboo.  They  are  crushed  by  what  is  known  as  the  "errastra,"  an 
apparatus  consisting  of  a  block  of  rock,  which  is  moved  like  a  mill 
stone  on  another  rock  by  means  of  buffalo  power.  Water  is  added, 
and  the  result  is  a  fine  mud,  which  is  washed  by  the  women,  who 
kneel  before  a  wooden  gutter  filled  with  water.  Each  woman  has  a 
washing  board,  over  which  water  from  the  gutter  flows  through  a 


1 64  THE  GREAT  VALUE  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

small  outlet.  The  water  washes  away  most  of  the  light  sand  and 
other  matter,  and  what  is  left  is  treated  in  a  wooden  bowl  and  finally 
in  a  cocoanut  shell.  A  small  quantity  of  slimy  juice  of  the  gogo  is 
mixed  in  with  the  water  to  keep  the  sand  suspended.  Of  course, 
most  of  the  gold  is  lost  during  this  process,  but  that  which  is  secured 
in  the  shape  of  dust  is  put  into  a  small  shell  and  covered  with  a 
little  charcoal.  This  is  placed  in  a  fragment  of  a  broken  pot  and  the 
charcoal  is  lighted.  Then  a  woman  blows  gently  through  a  little 
bamboo  tube  upon  it,  melting  the  gold  into  a  small  lump.  One  of 
the  nuggets  thus  secured  was  tested  and  was  found  to  contain  77  per 
cent,  of  gold,  19  per  cent,  of  silver,  3  per.  cent,  of  earth  and  i  per 
cent,  of  iron. 

COAL    BARONS    LOOK    TO    THE    PHILIPPINES. 

There  is  plenty  of  coal  in  the  archipelago,  and  yet  a  large  part 
of  the  mineral  in  use  there  is  imported  from  other  countries.  This 
is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  mining  of  coal  is  extremely  diffi 
cult  and  expensive.  The  only  means  of  transport  "are  buffalo  carts, 
and  these  are  neither  efficient,  quick  or  cheap.  The  island  of  Cebu 
contains  large  beds  of  coal,  and  the  mines  of  Compostella  are  said  to 
be  very  rich,  the  lodes  averaging  a  thickness  of  two  miles  ;  but  they 
have  never  been  fully  opened  for  want  of  capital.  The  coal  is  of 
medium  class,  still  the  Spanish  naval  authorities  were  willing  to 
contract  for  large  quantities  of  it ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  make  it 
pay  under  the  present  method  of  cart  transportation. 

In  Aplaco  Mountain,  in  Cebu,  the  coal  is  said  to  be  of  good 
quality;  but  not  to  contain  much  heating  power.  In  the  province  of 
Albay,  collieries  were  begun,  and  after  awhile  were  abandoned,  han 
dicapped  as  usual  by  failure  of  transportation.  It  is  calculated  that, 
up  to  the  year  1876,  $1,300,000  was  spent  on  the  mines  in  the  Philip 
pines  without  any  apparent  return. 

IRON    IS    PLENTIFUL    AND    ALMOST    PURE. 

There  is  plenty  of  iron,  in  which  the  ore  is  said  to  yield  75  per 
cent,  of  pure  metal,  yet  it  is  impossible  to  mine  it  at  a  profit,  owing 
to  the  lack  of  railways.  It  has  frequently  been  tried,  but  never  with 
success. 


IRON  IS  PLENTIFUL  AND  ALMOST  PURE 


167 


There  are  rich  mines  near  Manila,  and  others  at  Angat,  in  Bula- 
can  province,  the  latter  giving  undoubtedly  a  very  rich  ore.  The 
mines  there  are  still  being  worked,  though  on  a  very  small  scale. 

One  of  the  important  items  of  wealth  in  the  Philippines  is  cop 
per,  of  which  there  are  great  deposits.  The  natives  use  copper  uten 
sils,  and  the  Igorrotes  have  carried  on  copper  mining  for  centuries. 
The  ore  found  at  Mancayan  contains  16  per  cent,  of  copper;  In  the 
interior  of  the  island  of  Luzon,  copper  occurs  in  large  masses,  and 
as  yet  the  great  extent  of  the  commercial  value  of  that  deosit  is 
unknown.  The  natives  get  the  copper  by  placing  fragments  of  rock 
in  a  round  hollow  in  clayed  ground,  with  which  a  conical  funnel  of 
stone  is  cpnnected  ;  a  fire  is  lighted,  and  blowers  with  bamboo  are 
worked  with  plungers  to  make  a  draft. 

These,  with  the  deposits  of  sulphur,  marble  and  gypsum,  and 
with  the  addition  of  the  valuable  pearl  fisheries  of  Sulu,  make  the 
man  who  yearns  for  fields  where  wealth  can  be  had  for  the  finding, 
turn  his  eyes  towards  these  our  new  possessions,  which  hold  in  their 
hearts  fortunes  that,  if  uncovered,  would  show  riches  beyond  the 
wildest  imagination. 


CHAPTER   IX 

The  People  of  the  Islands 

More  than  Eighty  Different  Tribes  on  the  Islands. — Interesting  Traits  of  Character 
of  the  Natives,  both  Half-Civilized  and  Barbarous. — Cannibalism  and  its  Hor 
rors. — Something  about  the  Curious  Peoples — The  Aetas,  Negritos,  Gadanes, 

Itavis,  Igorrotes,  Tinguianes  and  many  others. 

» 

BUT  what  of  these  people,  whom  we  have  placed  beneath  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  both  by  the  right  of  capture  and  purchase 
of  their  land  ?  Who  are  they?  What  are  they?  How  do 
they  live  ?  Th  se  are  questions  which  everybody  asks,  when  the 
thought  of  the  Philippines  is  presented.  Most  persons  know  very 
little  of  them,  except  that  they  are  a  half-civilized  lot  of  people,  at 
best,  and  the  lowest  order  of  barbarians,  at  worst. 

And  this  general  impression  is  almost  correct ;  civilization  is  at 
a  very  low  ebb  in  the  Philippines.  Of  course,  the  Spaniards  who 
have  settled  there,  the  Europeans  who  carry  on  business  dealings  on 
the  islands,  some  of  the  Chinese  merchants,  and  even  some  of  the 
high-caste  natives,  are  people  of  culture  ;  but  the  great  overwhelm 
ing  mass  of  residents  on  the  island  are  in  low  stages  of  savagery. 

Let  us  look  for  a  minute  at  some  of  the  tribes  outside  of  the 
capital  of  Manila  and  the  region  round  about.  The  recent  attack 
by  insurgent  forces  upon  the  American  troops  has  made  most  people 
familiar  with  the  name  at  least  of  the  Igorrotes,  whose  chief  was 
captured  in  the  fight,  and  whose  tribesmen  stood  before  the  awful 
fire  of  our  guns,  wondering  what  on  earth  they  were  and  why  their 
ranks  were  thinned  out,  as  if  by  some  mysterious  force. 

The  chief  admitted,  as  has  been  stated,  that  he  never  saw  fire 
arms  before,  and  this  may  well  be  believed,  for  he  himself  and  all 
his  men  went  into  the  conflict  armed  with  bows  and  arrows.  These 
Igorrotes  occupy  a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  island  of  Luzon, 
of  which  Manila  is  the  capital.  From  a  physical  standpoint,  they  are 
about  as  fine  a  race  of  people  as  one  would  wish  to  see.  They  wear 

169 


i;o  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

their  hair  long,  almost  down  to  their  shoulders  ;  they  have  flat  noses 
and  high  cheek  bones,  and  are  broad-shouldered  and  strong  of  limb. 

Like  most  of  the  people  of  this  sub-tropical  isle,  they  are  ex 
ceedingly  lazy,  and  do  very  little  except  prey  upon  nearby  tribes. 
Murder  is  so  common  as  to  be  almost  a  pastime,  and  they  have  a  way 
of  avenging  murders  on  the  murderer's  family,  if  they  cannot  lay  hands 
upon  the  culprit  himself. 

They  have  given  the  government  of  Spain  as  much  trouble  as 
any  of  the  tribes  on  the  island.  The  task  of  civilizing  them  has  been 
absolutely  abandoned  by  the  Spanish,  and  the  occasional  expeditions 
to  place  them  under  subjection  have  been  so  weak  as  to  encourage 
these  native  sons  of  the  isle  in  the  belief  that  the  power  of  Spain 
is  not  very  much  of  a  thing  to  dread.  The  expeditions,  moreover, 
seem  to  have  given  the  Spanish  officers  an  opportunity  for  license, 
which  so  prejudiced  these  savages  against  Europeans,  that  all  over 
tures,  either  of  Church  or  State,  were  scorned  as  being  beneath  con 
tempt  by  these  islanders.  They  refused  absolutely  to  receive  baptism 
or  accept  Christianity,  basing  their  feelings  in  the  matter  upon  the 
actions  of  the  only  representatives  of  Christian  races  which  they 
knew,  and  who  proved  themselves  immoral  and  untrustworthy. 

DESCENDED    FROM    THE    FOLLOWERS    OF    THE    PIRATE. 

There  is  a  half-caste  tribe,  called  the  Igorrote-Chinese,  which  is 
supposed  to  have  come  down  through  the  generations  from  the  Chi 
nese  followers  of  the  terrible  pirate,  Limahong.  They  have  inter 
married  with  the  original  tribe,  and  the  result  is  a  very  individual 
class  of  islanders,  who  combine  the  fierceness  and  strength  of  the 
Igorrotes  and  the  cunning  and  cleverness  of  the  Chinamen. 

Among  the  best  known  of  the  wilder  tribes  are  the  Aetas,  or 
Negritos,  who  are  found  here  and  there  in  almost  all  of  the  islands. 
They  are  supposed  to  be  the  original  inhabitants.  In  color  they  are 
almost  as  black  as  African  negroes  ;  they  have  short,  curly  hair,  some 
thing  like  Astrakhan  fur.  They  are,  perhaps,  the  most  cowardly 
people  extant,  and  have  no  idea  of  facing  the  Spaniards  in  a  fair 
fight.  They  are  not  habitually  overburdened  with  clothing,  and  are 
usually  armed  with  a  lance  and  with  bow  and  arrow,  the  latter  of 
which  is  tipped  with  poison,  Their  agility  is  their  chief  character- 


A   WEDDING  CEREMONY  AMONG  THE  SAVAGES  171 

istic.  They  run  with  great  speed  and  climb  trees  almost  as  easily  as 
monkeys.  They  have,  apparently,  no  mentality  or  stability,  and  even 
those  brought  under  the  influences  of  civilization  have  lapses,  during 
which  they  go  back  to  their  native  customs  and  native  haunts. 

Their  religion  is  a  religion  of  superstition.  They  are  too  lazy 
to  work,  and  live  principally  on  fish,  roots  and  the  rice  common  to 
the  mountains.  Spasmodically  they  rush  down  upon  nearby  tribes 
and  settlements  which  have  made  some  progress  under  civilization, 
and  carry  off  anything  they  lay  their  hands  on.  The  government 
was  kept  busy  protecting  property  against  such  raids  for  some  years, 
but  recently  this  people  have  been  driven  so  far  into  the  interior  that 
their  visitations  for  plunder  are  becoming  less  and  less  frequent. 
Their  idea  of  plowing  the  earth  and  making  it  yield  forth  fruit  in  its 
season,  seems  to  be  to  scratch  up  the  surface  of  the  ground  slightly, 
without  clearing  it  of  shrubs  or  trees,  and  then  sprinkling  it  with 
seed  and  trusting  to  luck  for  something  to  grow. 

A    WEDDING    CEREMONY    AMONG    THE    SAVAGES. 

Mr.  John  Foreman,  who  traveled  through  their  country,  describes 
an  interesting  and  typical  wedding  ceremony  which  he  witnessed  there, 
as  follows  :  "  The  young  bride,  who  might  have  been  thirteen  years 
of  age,  was  being  pursued  by  her  future  spouse,  as  she  pretended  to 
run  away,  and  it  need  hardly  be  said  that  he  succeeded  in  bringing 
her  in  by  feigned  force.  She  struggled  and  again  got  away,  but  a 
second  time  she  was  caught.  Then  an  old  man  with  gray  hair  came 
forward  and  dragged  the  young  man  up  a  bamboo  ladder.  An  old 
woman  grasped  the  bride,  and  both  followed  the  bridegroom.  The 
aged  sire  then  gave  them  a  ducking  with  a  cocoanut  shell  full  of 
water,  and  they  all  descended.  The  happy  pair  knelt  down,  and  the 
elder,  having  placed  their  heads  together,  they  were  man  and  wife. 
We  endeavored  to  find  out  which  hut  was  alotted  to  the  newly  mar 
ried  couple,  but  we  were  given  to  understand  that,  until  the  sun  had 
reappeared  five  times,  they  would  spend  their  honeymoon  in  the 
mountains.  After  the  ceremony  was  concluded,  several  present  began 
to  make  their  usual  mountain  call.  In  the  lowlands,  the  same  pecu 
liar  cry  serves  to  bring  home  straggling  domestic  animals  to  their 
nocturnal  resting  place," 


172  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

The  Gadanes  occupy  the  extreme  northwest  of  Luzon,  and 
have  so  far  removed  from  the  centre  of  civilization  that  compara 
tively  little  is  known  about  them.  They  possess  many  of  the  attri 
butes  of  the  other  tribes,  are  very  dark  in  color  and  live  chiefly  on 
fish  and  vegetables.  Their  chief  pride  is  their  warlike  record,  so 
much  so,  in  fact,  that  when  a  young  man  makes  up  his  mind  to  assume 
the  bonds  of  matrimony,  he  usually  starts  out  on  the  warpath,  in 
order  to  dangle  before  his  prospective  father-in-law  enough  scalps  to 
make  himself  worthy  of  notice.  If  one  or  two  young  warriors  hap 
pen  to  be  paying  attention  to  the  same  dusky  maiden,  the  hunt  for 
scalps  becomes  a  contest,  and  the  man  who  kills  the  most  people  is 
likely  to  win  the  prize. 

THE    FIRE-TREE    STIRS    THE    NATIVES    TO    WAR. 

This  practice  of  proving  courage  at  the  expense  of  their  ene 
mies,  breaks  out  in  a  marked  degree  when  the  flowers  of  what  the 
Spaniards  call  the  fire-tree  are  in  bloom.  The  fire-tree  is  covered 
with  brilliant  red  blossoms,  and  their  appearance  is  regarded  as  a 
signal  to  the  members  of  this  race  to  count  up  scalps  and  celebrate 
victory  with  weird  rites. 

The  Gadanes  go  about  armed  in  such  a  way  that  they  can  get 
a  breakfast  or  kill  a  man  with  equal  ease.  Their  lances  are  long, 
with  tridented  tips  with  which  they  both  fish  and  kill,  and  their 
arrows  carry  at  the  point  two  rows  of  teeth  made  out  of  flint  or  sea- 
shells. 

To  the  south  of  them  live  the  Itavas,  who  are  much  similar  to 
them,  but  neither  as  fierce  or  as  brave.  They  are  ready  to  protect 
themselves  against  assault,  but  are  not  very  eager  to  go  into  war  for 
the  savage  love  of  the  sport.  Their  skin  is  lighter  and  their  hair  is 
shorter  than  their  neighbors'. 

The  Tinguianes,  who  occupy  the  district  of  Elabra,  are  pretty 
well  under  control  of  the  Spanish  government  ;  physically  they  are 
fine  specimens.  They  wear  their  hair  in  a  tuft  on  the  top  of  the 
head,  like  the  Japanese,  and  their  nose  is  aquiline,  but  the  rest  of 
their  features  are  much  like  that  of  the  ordinary  lowland  native. 

They  are  not  very  warlike,  and  have  been  kept  pretty  well  in 
hand  by  the  government  troops.  The  Spaniards  appoint  their  petty 


QUEER  OATHS  AMONG  THE  PEOPLE  173 

governors,  as  they  do  in  all  of  the  subdued  districts,  and  when  that 
governor  assumes  his  office,  it  is  related  that  he  takes  the  following 
picturesque  oath :  "  May  a  pernicious  wind  touch  me,  may  a  flash  of 
lightning  kill  me,  and  may  the  alligator  catch  me  asleep,  if  I  fail  to 
fulfill  my  duties." 

Picturesqueness  seems  to  be  the  vogue  in  oaths.  When  a  man 
is  brought  up  to  the  bar  of  justice  on  any  accusation,  he  has  the  right 
to  plead  guilty  or  not  guilty.  If  he  denies  the  accusation,  a  handful 
of  straw  is  burnt  in  his  presence,  and  he  is  made  to  hold  up  an 
earthen-ware  vessel  and  say  :  "  May  my  belly  be  converted  into  a  pot 
like  this,  if  I  have  committed  the  deed  attributed  to  me."  If  the 
transformation  does  not  take  place  immediately,  that  is  considered 
proof  positive  that  he  is  innocent,  and  he  is  allowed  to  go  free. 

They  have  no  temples,  but  they  worship  gods  who  are  hidden  in 
mountain  cavities.  They  have  priests,  supposed  to  be  in  touch  with 
these  gods,  and  they  are  appealed  to  on  all  occasions.  For  instance, 
when  a  child  is  to  be  named  it  is  carried  into  the  woods  and  the  pagan 
priest  is  sought  He  stands  over  the  new-born  babe  with  a  knife  in 
his  hand.  He  pronounces  a  name  and,  at  the  same  time,  sticks  the 
knife  into  a  tree  nearby.  If  sap  runs  out  of  the  tree,  the  name 
is  adopted ;  if  not,  he  tries  another  name,  changing  it  each  time  until 
the  sap  oozing  out  of  the  wound  in  the  tree  tells  the  waiting  people 
that  the  deity  has  decided  upon  that  name. 

These  people  build  their  houses  in  trees  or  on  posts,  sixty  or 
seventy  feet  from  the  ground.  In  these  houses  they  keep  a  goodly 
supply  of  large  rocks,  so  that  when  their  enemies  come  around  and 
try  to  climb'  up  to  their  dwellings,  they  drop  a  stone  on  their  heads. 
They  hang  skulls  of  horses  and  buffaloes  out  of  their  windows  for 
luck.  Some  of  the  families  of  El  Abra  and  Ilocos,  which  are  descended 
from  the  Tinguianes,  have  become  so  civilized  that  they  are  consid 
ered  valuable  as  workmen  and  servants  and  are  sought  in  preference 
to  any  of  the  others.  There  is  another  race  of  people  supposed  to 
have  descended  from  Hindoo  soldiers  who  formed  part  of  the  British 
troops  which  occupied  Manila  in  1763.  These  people  are  very 
decidedly  different  from  the  ordinary  native.  They  occupy  the 
Morong  district.  They  are  Christians,  hard  working  and  law  abid 
ing.  They  are  the  only  people  who  voluntarily  pay  their  taxes. 


174  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

There  are  in  the  Philippines  a  few  types  of  that  tropical  curiosity 
known  as  albinos,  who  have  pure  white  skin  and  light,  sometimes 
red  hair,  with  pink  eyes.  They  become  almost  blind  in  the  daytime, 
owing  to  the  glare  of  the  tropical  sun. 

SIXTY    LANGUAGES    AMONG    EIGHTY    TRIBES. 

There  are  sixty  distinct  languages  spoken  in  the  eighty  tribes  of 
the  islands,  and  out  of  9,000,000  people  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
million  can  read  and  write  Spanish,  the  only  language  whereby,  up  to 
this  time,  they  could  be  instructed.  Almost  all  of  the  education  seems 
to  have  been  among  the  Tagalos,  not  because  they  are  mentally 
superior  to  the  other  races,  but  because  they  happen  to  occupy  the 
region  round  about  Manila.  The  Tagolos  form  about  one-sixth  of 
the  population  of  Luzon,  yet  the  casual  visitor  to  the  Philippines,  or 
even  those  who  reside  in  Manila,  naturally  know  more  about  this 
race  than  any  other.  The  other  races  have  been  rather  jealous  of 
the  Tagalos,  and  dislike  them,  which  made  the  prospects  of  civiliza 
tion  through  these  nations  even  harder  than  by  direct  education  of 
the  other  tribes. 

Long  and  careful  study  of  the  Filipino  shows  that  in  many  re 
spects  his  character  is  a  mystery.  A  native  may  run  along  for  years 
in  a  normal  way,  exhibiting  fairly  good  sense  and  obeying  the  law, 
and  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  he  will  break  out  into  theft  or  murder  or 
some  other  crime,  just  because,  as  he  puts  it,  "  his  head  is  hot."  For 
instance,  there  was  a  native  who  served  with  one  of  the  members  of 
the  Spanish  colony  for  forty  years  without  getting  himself  into  any 
very  great  trouble.  One  day  a  son  of  his  master  came  back  from  a 
trip  bringing  with  him  a  $1,000.  The  old  servant  got  hold  of  the 
bag  containing  the  money,  ripped  it  open,  and  took  out  about  $30, 
leaving  the  rest  untouched.  He  was  charged  with  the  crime  and 
calmly  admitted  it,  although  he  could  not  offer  any  reason  for  not 
taking  the  whole  sum  while  he  was  about  it. 

CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE    FILIPINO. 

The  ordinary  native  is  fond  of  gambling  and  passionately 
devoted  to  cockfighting.  He  is  ready  to  make  all  kinds  of 
promises,  but  is  rarely  ready  to  carry  them  out.  If  he  commits  a 


YOUNG   MAN   OF  THE  UPPER  CLASS 

White  duck  or  crash  trousers  and  a  silk  or  pina  shirt 
make  a  fashionable  suit. 


AGUINALDO  AT  THE  AGE  OF  22 

Dressed  in  fine  Pina  cloth  shirt. 


DOING  THE   FAMILY  WASH 

The  glory  of  all  Philippine  women  is  their  long  and 
beautiful  hair. 


NATIVE  WOMAN    FRUIT  SELLER 

And  customers,  Manila. 


GRATITUDE  A  THING  UNKNOWN  177 

fault,  or  breaks  anything  by  accident,  he  rarely  comes  forward  and 
admits  it,  but  tries  to  hide  it  until  it  is  found  out.  The  natives  are 
quick  to  pounce  upon  any  sign  of  leniency  on  the  part  of  their 
European  employers.  If  a  foreigner  tries  to  do  them  a  good  turn, 
they  will  impose  upon  him  ever  afterward,  thinking  that  it  is  the 
sign  of  weakness  on  his  part,  which,  as  might  be  imagined,  has 
resulted  in  the  European  residents  of  the  place  adopting  an  atmos 
phere  of  authority  and  harshness  more  pronounced  than  might  have 
been  the  case  under  different  circumstances.  If  a  man  pays  a  native 
twenty  cents  for  something  that  he  has  done,  and  that  is  the  regular 
price,  he  takes  it  and  is  glad  to  get  it,  but  if  he  gives  him  thirty  cents, 
the  native  will  raise  a  storm  of  protest  and  grumble,  because  he  didn't 
get  fifty  cents. 

The  American  troops  are  responsible  for  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
among  the  native  servants  and  tradespeople  from  this  very  mistaken 
kindness.  When  the  troops  first  landed,  and  there  was  any  work  to 
be  done  which  had  to  be  done  by  the  natives,  they  paid  them  a  dollar 
a  day  for  what  they  were  ordinarily  receiving  twenty-five  cents,  and 
thought  they  were  getting  off  cheaply,  according  to  American  prices. 
And  so,  after  a  while,  there  was  a  pronounced  exodus  of  native  ser 
vants  from  the  houses  of  the  residents  of  Manila  and  Cavite,  because 
they  could  get  four  times  as  much  pay  from  the  Americans  as  from 
the  residents.  After  a  while  the  Americans  became  aware  of  the 
fact  that  they  had  been  too  generous  and  tried  to  reduce  prices  for 
work,  but  then  the  natives  showed  that  singular  characteristic  referred 
to,  and  declined  to  take  less  than  the  Americans  had  originally  paid. 
For  sometime  there  was  a  good  deal  of  disorder  and  discomfort 
resulting  from  this,  but  recently  things  have  quieted  down,  but  wages 
and  prices  have  gone  up  all  over  the  civilized  parts  of  the  islands. 

GRATITUDE    A    THING    UNKNOWN. 

Gratitude  is  a  thing  almost  unknown  to  the  native  Filipino  ;  he 
does  not  seem  to  understand  the  feeling  which  prompts  one  person  to 
give  another  a  gift  of  any  kind.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  in  the 
southern  islands  of  the  Philippines  there  is  no  word  or  phrase  to 
express  thanks  for  a  gift.  This  would  tend  to  show  that  the  idea  of 
gratitude  was  wanting,  and  consequently  there  was  no  need  of  words 


1 78  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

to  express  that  idea.  The  native  has  a  funny  way  of  asking  for  any 
thing.  He  never  comes  straight  out  with  his  request,  but  starts  a 
long  tale  of  woe,  probably  beginning  with  an  elaborate  lie,  which  you 
can  see  through  at  a  glance,  and  finally  coming  to  the  point,  with  a 
very  beseeching  voice,  and  a  face  as  innocent  as  though  he  had  never 
told  a  lie  in  his  life. 

He  never  voluntarily  returns  anything  that  he  borrows.  If  you 
speak  to  him  about  it,  he  calmly  tells  you  that  he  did  not  return  your 
loan  because  you  never  asked  him  for  it.  When  a  European  does 
make  a  loan  of  money  to  a  native,  it  behooves  him  to  parley  a  little 
with  the  borrower,  and  finally  compromise  by  lending  him  a  little  less 
than  he  asks,  otherwise  he  would  be  a  target  for  requests  for  the 
next  six  months. 

The  natives  are,  like  most  Orientals,  good  imitators,  but  not 
inventors.  No  matter  what  you  give  them,  they  will  sit  down  and 
make  a  copy  of  it.  A  native  has  no  idea  of  sticking  to  one  trade  ; 
he  will  be  a  servant  one  week,  go  out  as  a  sailor  the  next,  and  proba 
bly  wind  up  as  a  lawyer  or  a  bandit  the  week  following.  He  regards 
the  European  as  an  awful  being,  and  the  farther  away  from  the  cen 
ters  of  civilization  that  one  goes  in  the  islands  the  more  awful  one 
finds  the  conception  of  Europeans.  The  name  is  much  like  that  of 
our  "  Bogy-man,"  who  will  "ketch  you  if  you  don't  look  out !"  The 
women  scare  their  children  into  submission  with  the  awful  word 
"Castila"  (European).  If  a  baby  cries,  it  is  hushed  by  this  magic 
word  ;  if  a  white  man  comes  near  a  hut  in  the  less  civilized  parts  of 
the  islands,  the  same  word  is  used  as  a  cry  of  caution  to  all  who  may 
be  within. 

These  people  are  a  people  of  superstition  and  without  humor. 
A  joke  is  taken  with  the  utmost  seriousness,  and  is  sometimes 
enlarged  upon  by  the  natives  until  its  consequences  are  serious. 
They  rarely  show  anger,  and  receive  everything  without  a  change  of 
a  muscle  of  the  face  ;  but  they  store  up  their  wrath  for  future  use, 
and  patiently  wait  until  the  opportunity  comes  for  them  to  plunge  a 
knife  into  their  enemy.  A  native  never  can  keep  a  secret,  but  he  is 
silent  in  service,  with  sometimes  the  most  extraordinary  results.  He 
will  let  your  horse  die  for  want  of  food,  and  tell  you  afterward  it  is 
because  the  animal  had  nothing  to  eat. 


A  SUPERSTITION  ABOUT  SLEEP  179 

He  never  comes  when  first  called,  and,  sometimes,  when  one 
native  wants  another,  he  has  to  call  him  five  or  six  times  before  the 
other  responds,  although  he  has  heard  the  summons  from  the  very 
first.  The  native  does  not  hesitate  to  steal,  but  he  usually  confines 
himself  to  things  he  wants,  and  does  not  take  things  merely  because 
they  are  valuable. 

One  of  the  peculiar  traits  of  the  Filipinos  is  that  they  will  never 
step  over  a  person  who  is  asleep  on  the  floor,  and  they  will  not  wake 
anybody,  except  on  the  utmost  provocation.  Their  argument  in  the 
matter  is  that  the  soul  is  absent  from  the  body  while  one  is  asleep, 
and  if  it  went  very  far  away,  it  would  not  have  time  to  get  back,  if  the 
man  were  suddenly  awakened.  If  you  go  to  call  on  a  native  and  are 
told  he  is  asleep,  you  might  as  well  turn  around  and  go  away  again 
until  he  wakes  up. 

The  average  Filipino  is  a  good  father  and  a  good  husband  in 
many  ways,  although  he  thinks  more  of  his  game  cock  than  his 
family.  In  cases  of  fire,  natives  have  been  known  to  pick  up  their 
fighting  birds  and  flee,  leaving  their  wives  and  children  to  take  care 
of  themselves,  and  get  out  as  best  they  could. 

If  you  put  a  question  suddenly  to  a  native  he  apparently  loses 
his  presence  of  mind,  and  gives  any  reply  that  happens  to  come  to 
him,  no  matter  whether  it  is  true  or  not.  Then,  as  you  ply  him  with 
questions,  he  will  amend  his  statement  little  by  little,  until  finally  the 
truth  comes  out.  He  is  not  ashamed  of  lying,  but  is  chagrined  if 
his  lie  fails  in  its  purpose. 

The  Tagalog  is  quite  sociable,  and  if  you  visit  him,  he  receives 
you  very  hospitably.  The  Visaya,  who  lives  in  the  south  of  the 
island,  and  is  as  much  civilized  as  the  Tagalog,  is  not  so  friendly.  He 
seldom  smiles  before  a  stranger,  has  as  little  conversation  with  them 
as  possible,  and  puts  on  a  great  deal  of  airs. 

There  is  one  thing  about  these  half-civilized  islanders  that  gives 
hope  that  some  day  they  may  be  governed  successfully,  and  that  is 
their  sense  of  justice.  Once  convinced  that  they  are  being  justly 
treated,  they  are  perfectly  satisfied.  If  you  beat  a  man  when  he 
knows  he  has  done  wrong,  he  will  never  say  a  word  ;  but  if  he  thinks 
he  is  being  unjustly  chastised,  he  will  carry  a  grudge  against  you  for 
years. 


i8o  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

The  colleges  at  Manila  have  done  much  to  educate  the  brighter 
natives.  The  people  have  very  little  idea  of  art,  but  all  of  them  are 
musicians  of  more  or  less  ability.  Native  orchestras  can  be  procured 
for  almost  nothing,  and  they  will  play  the  most  difficult  music  at  a 
moment's  notice.  The  American  soldiers  used  to  hire  an  orchestra 
to  play  during  meals  and  all  evening  for  twenty-five  cents. 

When  I  asked  a  prominent  army  man,  who  had  just  returned 
from  Manila,  what  struck  him  as  the  most  remarkable  thing  that  he 
came  across  during  his  visit  to  the  island,  he  replied  without  hesita 
tion,  "  A  native  orchestra  playing  Sousa's  '  Stars  and  Stripes  For 
ever',  and  'A  Hot  Time  in  the  Old  Town  To-night'.  Since  the 
advent  of  the  American  soldiers  the  musical  repertoire  of  the  native 
musicians  has  undergone  a  decided  change.  They  have  adopted 
almost  all  of  the  popular  songs  of  this  country,  and  play  them  appar 
ently  in  preference  to  anything  else.  One  American  officer,  who 
received  a  large  roll  of  music  from  friends  in  the  United  States, 
untied  the  package,  called  the  leader  of  the  native  orchestra  which 
was  to  play  at  a  little  dinner  that  he  was  giving,  and,  sitting'down  at 
the  piano,  played  a  dozen  of  the  selections.  That  evening  the  whole 
orchestra  rendered  these  selections  one  after  the  other,  without  notes, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  assembled  guests. 

These  musicians  think  nothing  of  trying  the  most  difficult  Ger 
man  and  Italian  operas,  and  almost  any  native  orchestra  in  Manila 
can  give  you  the  overture  to  "  Tannhaeuser "  in  first-rate  style,  or 
anything  else  that  you  wish  of  a  similar  nature.  There  is  little  native 
music  of  any  sweetness  or  value,  and  the  natives  seem  to  avoid  play 
ing  what  they  have.  They  never  get  tired  of  music,  and  they  will 
play  for  hours  at  a  time  practically  for  nothing. 

THE    NATIVE    DANCE. 

Their  dancing  is  interesting,  and,  if  well  executed,  is  very  grace 
ful.  One  of  their  typical  dances,  known  as  the  Comitan,  is  that  of  a 
girl  rising  and  dancing  a  pas  seul  with  a  glass  of  water  on  her  head. 
Another  popular  dance  is  accompanied  by  a  song  which  is  an  alter 
nate  diminishing  and  raising  of  the  voice,  with  slow  movement  sug 
gesting  sorrow  and  then  coy,  and  rapid  and  energetic  steps  to  show 
elation. 


WHAT  THE  VIS  AY  A   WOMEN  WEAR  181 

The  native  costumes  are  very  interesting.  In  a  city  like  Manila, 
and  in  its  surroundings  many  varieties  of  attire  may  be  seen  upon 
the  streets  at  the  same  time.  The  Spaniards  wear  the  ordinary  Euro 
pean  costumes,  the  British  generally  dress  in  white,  and  the  Chinese 
have  their  peculiar  national  dress.  The  pure  natives  and  many  half- 
breeds  wear  a  shirt  which  falls  outside  of  the  trousers.  It  is  usually 
white,  with  a  long,  stiff  front,  cut  after  the  European  fashion,  but 
some  of  the  well-to-do  natives  wear  the  beautiful  pina  cloth,  an 
extremely  fine,  yellow-tinted  material,  woven  from  fibres  of  the 
pineapple-tree. 

A  native  woman  wears  a  flowing  skirt  of  bright  colors — red  and 
green  and  white,  the  length  of  her  train  and  the  material  depending 
entirely  upon  her  pocket-book.  They  wear  chemisettes,  and  cover 
their  shoulders  and  neck  with  a  starched  neckcloth  of  pina.  To  the 
chemisette  are  added  wide,  short  sleeves.  The  hair  is  brushed  up 
from  the  forehead  without  a  part,  and  coiled  tightly.  The  native 
woman  is  very  fond  of  jewelry.  She  always  carries  a  fan,  without 
which  she  would  feel  ill  at  ease.  She  wears  no  stockings,  and  the 
feet  are  covered  with  a  kind  of  slipper  which  has  no  heel,  and  just 
enough  upper  in  front  to  put  two  or  three  toes  in.  She  holds  herself 
badly,  and  is  not  prepossessing.  The  ordinary  peasant  woman  is 
very  much  more  picturesque.  She  wears  a  short  skirt,  which  is  made 
up  of  a  rectangular  piece  of  stuff,  folded  around  her,and  tucked  in  at 
the  waist.  She  is  very  erect  in  her  walk,  due  probably  to  the  fact 
that  she  has  balanced  jars  of  water  or  baskets  of  fruit  on  her  head 
since  infancy.  Sometimes  the  better  class  natives  wear  shirt  skirts  of 
silk  or  satin,  with  gold  lace  or  embroidery,  which  is  very  becoming. 

WHAT    THE    VISAYA    WOMEN    WEAR. 

The  Visaya  woman  wears  a  robe  like  that  of  the  Javanese,  which 
is  kept  in  place  by  being  drawn  tightly  around  the  body,  reaches  to 
the  feet,  and  is  tucked  in  at  the  waist.  Sometimes  she  will  put 
another  piece  of  cloth  over  this. 

The  costume  of  the  native  men,  who  have  attended  the  colleges 
in  the  city,  are  amusingly  like  those  of  the  college  student  of  Europe. 
They  dress  their  hair  fantastically,  \\ear  patent  leather  shoes,  and  felt 

hats  carefully  tilted  to  one  side. 
10 


1 8. 2  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

The  native  has  a  decided  dislike  of  being  pressed  into  military 
service.  He  is  brave  if  led  by  his  superiors,  or  if  fighting  against  his 
equals  ;  but  when  he  becomes  convinced  that  his  antagonist  is  his 
superior,  it  has  a  depressing  effect  upon  him.  He  admires  bravery, 
and  has  a  great  contempt  for  cowardice.  Whenever  he  is  in  service 
he  is  a  good  soldier  until  his  leader  is  shot.  After  that  he  simply 
becomes  demoralized. 

The  Filipinos  delight  in  pillage  and  destruction,  and  whenever 
they  are  victors  in  a  battle  there  is  no  holding  them  in.  They  resort 
to  all  sorts  of  tricks  to  escape  military  service.  For  instance,  a  deed 
of  property  showed  the  names  of  two  brothers  on  it  exactly  alike. 
Inquiry  disclosed  the  fact  that  it  was  not  a  mistake,  but  that  the  two 
brothers  were  given  the  same  name  for  the  purpose  of  evading  mili 
tary  service.  One  of  them  had  to  serve,  but  the  other  escaped 
because  the  Spaniards  never  suspected  that  there  were  two  brothers 
of  the  same  name  in  the  same  family.  This  was  quite  a  common 
trick  among  the  poor  natives. 

Such  are  Uncle  Sam's  new  people.  Little  is  known  of  most  of 
them;  a  large  proportion  of  them  have  never  been  seen,  and  perhaps 
will  never  be  for  many  years.  In  some  of  the  smaller  islands  the 
natives  are  so  uncivilized  that  cannibalism  in  all  its  horrors  is  still 
rife  ;  arid  in  all  of  the  islands  brigandage  and  piracy  are  common. 
What  to  do  with  these  people  is  a  serious  question.  Shall  we  suffer 
the  fate  which  Kipling  so  vigorously  expresses — 

"And  when  your  goal  is  nearest 

(The  end  for  others  sought), 
Watch  sloth  and  heathen  folly 

Bring  all  your  hope  to  naught." 


CHAPTER  X 

Fascinations  and  Terrors  of  a  New  Land. 

The  Awful  Wildness  of  Typhoons. — A  Land  Ruled  by  Volcanoes. — Thousands  Killed 
by  Earthquakes. — All  Business  Suspended  until  Evening,  owing  to  the  Heat.—  \ 
Glimpse  of  its  Birds,  Beasts  and  Reptiles. 

THE  Philippines  would  be  a  delightful  place  to  live  in,  were  it  not 
for  two  things — the  terrible  typhoons,  which  sweep  the  coun 
try  from  time  to  time,  and  the  equally  terrible  though  less  fre 
quent  earthquakes,  which  carry  death  and  destruction  to  the  people 
of  the  islands.     One  can  get  used  to  the  heat  in  the  Philippines,  and 
live  a  fairly  comfortable  and  peaceful  existence,  if  that  were  all,  but 
the  typhoons  and  the  earthquakes  are  not  pleasant  to  even  think  of. 

As  might  be  imagined,  the  temperature  on  the  islands  is  not  very 
low,  but  then  it  has  the  advantage  of  not  being  very  variable,  and 
consequently  when  one  gets  used  to  the  heat  and  accustomed  to  the 
method  of  living  there,  he  begins  to  think  that  after  all  the  Philippines 
are  a  pretty  pleasant  place  to  live  in.  The  climate  is  very  healthy, 
and  aside  from  the  diseases  which  are  common  in  all  tropical  places, 
and  which  to  a  great  extent  can  be  prevented  by  personal  carefulness, 
the  residents  there  are  able  to  keep  in  very  good  physical  condition 
and  enjoy  life  thoroughly. 

FOUR    PERIODS    OF    WEATHER    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES. 

The  maximum  temperature  is  about  98,  and  the  minimum  75 
degrees,  both  records  being  based  on  calculatians  made  at  noon  in 
the  shade.  There  are  four  periods  in  Manila  weather,  with  which 
everybody  is  probably  familiar.  Spring  begins  in  December  and  con 
tinues  in  January  and  February,  and  these  three  months  form  about 
as  delightful  a  period  of  existence  as  it  is  possible  to  contemplate. 
March  and  April  and  May  are  months  of  intense  heat,  in  which  the 
people  work  only  in  the  early  morning  and  in  the  evening,  all  of  the 
central  portion  of  the  day  being  devoted  to  the  difficult  task  of  keep- 

183 


1 84  FASCINATIONS  AND  TERRORS  OF  A  NEW  LAND 

ing  cool  and  taking  life  easy.  Then  begins  the  period  of  heavy  rain, 
which  continues  for  four  months,  June,  July,  August  and  September. 
The  remaining  two  months,  October  and  November,  are  doubtful. 
Sometimes  they  are  quite  as  wet  as  the  preceding  months,  and  at 
other  times  they  are  dry  and  delightful. 

Very  low  temperature,  or  sudden  change  of  temperature,  is  prac 
tically  unknown,  and  one  is  able  to  calculate  pretty  well  what  kind  of 
weather  he  may  expect,  barring  the  typhoons.  These  terrible  storms 
which  lay  waste  the  country  far  and  wide  are  expected  at  least  once  a 
year.  Sometimes  they  are  not  as  severe  as  others,  and  sometimes 
they  carry  in  their  wake  death  and  destruction  incredible  to  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States.  The  typhoons  come  in  the  rainy  season, 
between  April  and  the  middle  of  December.  Houses  are  made  roof 
less,  and  some  of  them  are  blown  down,  ships  are  torn  from  their 
anchorage  in  the  harbor  and  sometimes  blown  for  miles  to  be  dashed 
upon  the  shore  and  destroyed. 

THOUSANDS  KILLED  BY  TERRIBLE  TYPHOONS. 

In  1882  a  great  typhoon  swept  Manila  accompanied  with  tor 
rents  of  rain,  which  added  to  the  damag  .  A  number  of  houses  were 
unroofed,  and  two  Chinamen  who  went  out  in  the  storm  for  the  pur 
pose  of  helping  themselves  to  a  new  corrugated  iron  roof  with  the 
assistance  of  the  storm,  were  found  on  the  streets  the  next  day  with 
their  heads  almost  cut  off,  On  the  6th  of  October,  1897,  one  °f  tne 
most  disastrous  typhoons  ever  reported  visited  the  Philippines. 
Thousands  of  lives  were  lost,  including  many  Europeans,  and  damage 
to  property  was  something  appalling.  The  typhoon  struck  first  at  the 
Bay  of  Santa  Paula,  in  the  province  of  Samar.  Fully  four  hundred 
Europeans  were  drowned,  and  it  is  estimated  that  six  thousand  natives 
perished.  The  entire  southern  part  of  the  island  was  devastated. 

The  typhoon  reached  Leyte  and  struck  the  capital  of  Taclobam 
with  great  fury.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  the  town  was  filled 
with  ruins,  the  natives  were  panic-stricken  and  fled  to  reach  clear 
ground  so  they  could  lie  down  and  let  the  storm  pass  over  them. 
Four  hundred  were  buried  beneath  the  debris  of  wrecked  buildings, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  bodies  of  Europeans  were  picked  up 
by  the  authorities  when  the  search  for  the  dead  was  made. 


EARTHQUAKES  WORK  HAVOC  TO  LIFE  AND  PROPERTY  18; 

During  these  typhoons  rivers  often  overflow  their  banks  and 
extensive  areas  are  submerged.  The  approach  of  the  wind  is  usually 
known  through  the  sudden  effect  which  its  proximity  has  on  the 
barometer.  Hours  before  its  arrival  there  will  be  a  sudden  fall,  while 
if  the  center  of  the  storm  is  near  the  barometer  varies  quickly  up  and 
down,  so  that  the  observer  knows  what  to  expect.  The  terrible 
winds  of  the  typhoon  are  usually  accompanied  by  tidal  waves,  which 
are  quite  as  destructive.  They  sweep  over  the  land  in  the  most  un 
expected  fashion,  and  a  vessel  which  before  the  approach  of  a  tidal 
wave  was  calmly  moored  in  the  harbor  will,  after  it  subsides,  find  itself 
resting  upon  the  top  of  a  building  some  distance  away. 

EARTHQUAKES    WORK    HAVOC    TO    LIFE    AND    PROPERTY. 

But  even  more  terrible  in  its  effects  than  the  typhoon  is  the 
earthquake,  which  is  not  at  all  a  stranger  to  the  Philippines.  One  of 
the  greatest  curiosities  to  the  American  soldiers  who  visited  Manila 
was  the  ruins  of  a  building  which  had  been  rent  and  destroyed  by  the 
force  of  an  earthquake. 

The  most  serious  shock,  next  to  the  war,  which  occurred  in  this 
century,  was  in  June,  1863.  It  lasted  half  a  minute,  and  yet  in  that 
little  space  of  time  over  $8,000,000  worth  of  property  was  wrecked 
beyond  recovery,  and  the  falling  buildings  rolled  up  a  death  list  of 
four  hundred,  while  over  two  thousand  people  were  injured.  This 
was  in  Manila  alone,  for  Manila  has,  so  to  speak,  a  corner  on  earth 
quakes. 

The  official  records  made  at  that  time  show  that  forty-six  public 
edifices  were  thrown  down,  twenty-eight  were  nearly  destroyed,  five 
hundred  and  seventy  private  buildings  were  wrecked  and  five  hun 
dred  and  twenty-eight  were  so  badly  damaged  as  to  be  almost  a  total 
loss.  In  1880  there  was  an  earthquake  which  did  a  great  deal  of 
damage,  but  which  caused  no  loss  of  life,  and  in  1881  the  records  show 
twenty-three  slight  quakes,  but  the  natives  and  even  foreigners  get 
so  used  to  these  little  shocks  that  they  hardly  notice  them. 

This  upheaval  of  1880  had  a  permanent  effect  upon  the  architec 
ture  of  the  city  of  Manila.  Up  to  that  time  the  larger  and  more 
extensive  buildings  had  heavy  tiled  roofs  which  caused  great  damage 
and  were  easily  destroyed.  After  that  galvanized  corrugated  iron 


1 88  FASCINATIONS  AND  TERRORS  OF  A  NEW  LAND 

came  into  general  use  for  roofing,  and  now  none  of  the  larger  build 
ings  in  the  civilized  parts  of  the  Philippines  are  covered  with  anything 
else.  Owing  to  the  combination  of  heavy  winds  and  earthquake  shocks 
the  poorer  natives  cover  their  houses  with  "  nipa"  a  long,  broad,  flat 
leaf  of  the  nipa-tree,  a  gigantic  fern  found  almost  everywhere  in  the 
Philippines.  The  thick,  pithy  texture  of  its  leaves  yields  sufficient 
protection  against  the  sun  and  also  sheds  the  rain.  Its  drawback  is 
its  liability  to  catch  fire,  and  sometimes  the  destruction  of  entire  towns 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  houses  are  roofed  in  nipa. 

In  getting  possession  of  the  Philippines  the  United  States  secured 
the  finest  volcano  from  the  standpoint  of  beauty  in  the  world,  as  well 
as  the  most  active  one.  The  former  is  the  Mayon  Volcano,  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Albay,  in  the  extreme  east  of  Luzon  Island  ;  the  latter  is  the 
Taal  Volcano,  in  the  center  of  Bombon  Lake,  only  thirty-four  miles 
due  south  from  Manila. 

THE    ERUPTION    OF    A    VOLCANO. 

Clustered  around  the  bottom  of  the  Mayon  Volcano  are  several 
towns  and  villages,  including  the  capital  of  the  province  Albay.  In 
1814,  on  February  ist,  this  volcano  burst  forth  in  all  its  power.  Five 
towns  were  totally  demolished,  and  the  inhabitants  fled  into  caves  to 
shelter  themselves,  but  many  were  overtaken  by  the  stones  ejected 
from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  some  even  by  the  lava  which 
flowed  down  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Father  Francisco  Arago- 
neses,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  church  there,  estimated  that  twenty- 
Two  hundred  people  were  killed,  to  say  nothing  of  the  large  number 
who  were  injured  in  this  eruption. 

There  were  other  eruptions  in  1887  at  which  only  a  small  quan 
tity  of  volcanic  matter  was  thrown  out,  doing  little  damage.  On  the 
9th  of  July,  1888,  there  was  one  which  was  much  more  destructive. 
Two  towns  were  damaged  greatly,  several  nearby  plantations  were 
destroyed,  many  cattle  were  killed  and  fifteen  of  the  natives  lost 
their  lives. 

This  beautiful  mountain  forms  almost  a  perfect  cone  and  rises  in 
the  air  to  a  distance  of  8,200  feet.  But  the  best  known  volcano  in 
the  Philippines  is  the  Taal,  which  stretches  its  snowy  peak  into  the 
air  quite  near  to  the  City  of  Manila.  It  is  on  a  little  island  in  the 


7MV7  MAT  1C  SCENE  AT  THE  UPHEAVAL  OF  THE  EARTH     189 

centre  of  Bombon  Lake,  and  it  has  been  in  an  active  condition  since 
the  mind  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary.  This,  too,  was  in  the 
shape  of  a  beautiful  cone,  up  to  the  year  1749,  when  there  was  a  great 
outburst,  which  rent  it  in  two,  leaving  the  crater  exposed  to  sight,  as 
it  remains  to-day. 

In  1754  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the  terrible  eruptions  of  this 
volcano  took  place,  destroying  the  towns  of  Taal,  Tanauan,  Sala  and 
Lipa,  and  seriously  damaging  Balayan,  fifteen  miles  distant. 

The  cinders  from  this  eruption  are  said  to  have  reached  Manila, 
thirty-four  miles  distant,  as  a  bird  flies,  and  one  writer,  in  speaking 
of  this  eruption  thirty-six  years  after  its  occurrence,  said  that  the  peo 
ple  in  Manila  were  forced  to  light  their  candles  at  midday,  and  walked 
around  the  streets  thunderstruck  for  eight  days  during  which  the  bap 
tism  of  fire  was  visible.  The  smell  of  the  sulphur  lasted  for  six 
months  after  it  was  all  over,  and  the  lake  waters  gave  up  thousands 
of  dead  fish  and  alligators. 

DRAMATIC  SCENE  AT  THE  UPHEAVAL  OF  THE  EARTH. 

There  is  still  extant  a  description  of  the  priest,  Francisco  Ven- 
cuchillo,  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  corporation  of  St.  Augustine 
in  Manila.  He  tells,  in  detail,  all  about  the  great  calamity  of  1749, 
as  well  as  that  of  1754.  He  noticed  a  strong  light  on  the  top  of 
Volcano  Island  about  1 1  o'clock  at  night  on  the  i  ith  of  August,  1749, 
but  paid  little  attention  to  it.  While  he  was  asleep,  however,  a  noise 
like  that  of  artillery  firing  awoke  him.  He  thought  it  come  from  the 
guns  of  a  vessel  expected  from  Mexico,  but  when  the  shots  continued 
rapidly,  one  after  the  other  until  he  counted  a  hundred  or  more,  he 
became  alarmed  and  imagined  that  some  naval  engagement  was  tak 
ing  place  off  the  coast.  Some  of  the  natives  ran  to  him  and  begged 
him  to  flee,  telling  him  that  the  island  had  burst,  and  when  daylight 
came  an  immense  volume  of  smoke  could  be  seen  coming  from  the 
top  of  the  volcano,  and  here  and  there  smaller  streams  of  smoke  rose 
like  plumes.  It  was  a  magnificent  sight  to  see  great  mountains  of 
sand  hurled  from  the  lake,  in  the  form  of  pyramids,  and  then  fall  back 
again  like  the  water  from  a  fountain,  and  while  he  was  watching  this 
spellbound,  a  tremor  of  the  earth  shook  the  convent,  in  which  he  was 
standing,  to  its  very  foundations. 


190  FASCINATIONS  AND  TERRORS  OF  A  NEW  LAND 

Pillars  of  sand  rose  out  of  the  water  near  to  the  shore,  and  then 
a  second  shock  caught  them  before  they  had  fallen  and  they,  with 
the  trees  on  the  island,  were  thrown  down  and  submerged  into  the 
lake.  The  land  shifted,  so  that  houses  which  were  formerly  on  an 
elevation  were  placed  in  a  valley,  and  vice  versa.  The  activity  con 
tinued  for  three  weeks,  and  for  the  first  three  days  ashes  fell  like 
rain.  The  eruption  of  1754,  as  this  same  priest  chronicles  it,  was  even 
more  terrifying  to  witness.  It  began  between  9  and  10  o'clock  at 
night  on  May  i5th.  Lava  poured  forth  from  the  volcano  in  such 
quantities  that  only  the  water  of  the  lake  kept  the  people  from  being 
burned  to  death.  Soon  stones  were  hurled  as  far  as  the  shore  and 
fell  upon  the  villages  there.  The  eruptions  continued  incessantly, 
until  the  loth  of  July,  when  a  heavy  shower  of  mud,  black  as  ink, 
fell  on  the  country  round  about.  A  suburb  of  Sala  was  swamped 
with  mud.  During  this  phenomenon  a  constant  noise  was  kept  up, 
which  lasted  only  for  a  short  time,  but  the  fire  still  continued  to  belch 
forth  from  the  mouth  of  the  volcano  until  the  25th  of  September. 
On  that  night  stones  fell,  and  the  people  of  Taal  left  their  houses, 
fearing  lest  the  weight  of  these  stones  would  crush  them  in. 

PANIC    AND    RUIN    FOLLOW    IN    THE    WAKE. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  beginning  at  7  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
the  eruption  was  at  its  worst  and  the  volcano  threw  up  more  fire  than 
during  all  the  preceding  seven  months  put  together.  The  whole  of 
the  island  seemed  to  be  a  mass  of  molten  metal,  and  the  lava  hurled 
up  seemed  to  reach  to  the  very  clouds.  A  strong  wind  was  blowing, 
and  with  the  terrible  noise  which  appeared  to  come  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  a  huge  mass  of  stones  was  thrown  up  with  great  violence, 
and  nearly  all  of  the  people  fell  prostrate  and  began  to  pray.  The 
waters  of  the  lake  rose  and  crept  toward  the  houses,  and  the  fright 
ened  inhabitants,  laying  hands  upon  whatever  property  they  could, 
fled  for  their  lives,  terror-stricken.  Panic  ruled  everywhere  ;  people 
wept  and  prayed  and  confessed  their  sins  ;  shouting  and  lamentations 
were  heard  on  all  sides ;  and  then  when  the  night  was  spent,  and  the 
next  day  began,  no  one  could  tell  whether  the  sun  shone  or  not,  for 
darkness  ruled  for  forty-eight  hours.  When  light  reappeared  the 
whole  village  of  Taal  had  been  abandoned.  In  some  of  the  villages 


TERRORS  OF  PHILIPPINE  JUNGLES  1 9 1 

nearby  the  people  climbed  upon  the  house  tops  to  throw  down  the 
cinders  which  were  threatening  to  crush  the  structure  under  their 
weight. 

On  the  3oth  of  November  the  smoke  and  noise  seemed  greater 
than  ever.  The  lightning  flashed,  and  the  end  of  the  world  seemed 
to  have  arrived.  For  a  day  afterward  there  was  a  period  of  compara 
tive  calm,  and  then  followed  a  hurricane  which  lasted  for  two  days. 
The  government  house  and  stores,  the  prison,  the  state  warehouses 
and  the  royal  rope  wharf,  together  with  the  church  and  the  convent 
at  Taal  and  many  private  houses,  were  completely  destroyed  in  this 
upheaval. 

The  road  from  Taal  to  Balayan  was  impassable  for  some  time, 
because  of  the  lava.  This  ended  the  life  of  Taal,  once  the  capital 
and  the  greatest  city  of  that  province,  and  forever  after  it  was 
deserted,  and  Batangas  on  the  coast  took  its  place  as  the  chief  town 
of  importance  and  became  the  capital. 

This  volcano  of  Taal  can  be  reached  easily,  the  ascent  occupying 
about  half  an  hour.  The  crater  is  4,500  feet  wide,  and  in  it  are  three 
separate  lakes  of  boiling  liquid,  which  change  color  from  time  to  time. 
At  periods  there  appears  also  a  lava  chimney  from  which  smoke  is 
emitted.  All  of  the  islands  are  of  more  or  less  volcanic  origin.  In 
Negros  Island,  the  Canlauan  Volcano  sometimes  can  be  seen  to  be 
in  a  state  of  eruption,  and  on  the  island  of  Camiguin  the  inhabitants 
awoke  one  morning  to  find  that  the  territory  which  was  the  previous 
day  a  plain  had  become  a  volcanic  mountain. 

TERRORS    OF    PHILIPPINE    JUNGLES. 

Ordinarily,  when  one  thinks  of  tropical  lands,  he  pictures  to  him- 
jself  visions  of  poisonous  reptiles  and  beasts  of  prey  which  render  life 
unsafe.  The  Philippines  offer  little  to  fear  from  either  beast  or  rep 
tile.  The  only  beast  of  prey,  known  in  the  islands,  is  the  wild  cat, 
and  the  only  wild  animal  which  is  greatly  to  be  feared  is  the  buffalo. 
The  jungles  and  swamps  are  filled  with  snakes  and  lizards,  centipedes, 
spiders  and  tarantulas,  but  deaths  resulting  from  poisonous  contact 
with  any  of  these  are  comparatively  few. 

The  natives  cure  the  bite  of  a  centipede  with  a  plaster  of  garlic 
crushed  until  the  juice  flows,  which  is  renewed  every  hour.  Rarely 


192  FASCINATIONS  AND  TERRORS  OF  A  NEW  LAND 

one  comes  across  boa  constrictors,  which  sound  very  terrible,  but 
which  really  are  the  most  harmless  of  all  the  snakes  on  the  islands. 
The  most  fatal  of  the  snakes  are  called  by  the  natives  alupong  and 
daghong  palay.  Their  bite  is  fatal  if  not  cauterized  at  once.  The 
latter  is  found  in  the  deep  mud  of  the  rice  fields  and  among  the  tall 
rice  plants.  Everywhere  the  stagnant  waters  are  infested  with 
leeches,  and  there  is  a  small  specimen  of  the  same  family  which 
jumps  into  one's  face  in  the  dense  forest,  which,  to  say  the  least,  is 
very  annoying.  Perhaps  the  greatest  nuisances  on  the  islands 
are  the  ants.  They  overrun  everything,  and  are  all  shapes  and  sizes, 
consequently  most  of  the  furniture  in  one's  house  in  Manila  has  to 
be  protected  by  bowls  of  water  to  keep  the  ants  from  climbing  up. 
The  ant  eats  its  way  through  most  of  the  wood,  and  sometimes 
render  it  necessary  to  pull  down  and  rebuild  great  warehouses,  owing 
to  their  inroads.  Mosquitoes  are  troublesome,  and  rats  and  mice  are 
very  plentiful.  There  are  plenty  of  bats,  which  afford  a  variety  of 
sport,  which  is  much  indulged  in  by  those  who  enjoy  shooting.  Deer 
and  wild  boar  are  also  plentiful,  and  monkeys  can  be  found  in  the 
forests.  The  great  plague  of  locusts  has  already  been  referred  to. 
In  the  mud  of  stagnant  waters  there  is  a  kind  of  beetle  called  the 
Tanga,  which  the  natives  relish  greatly  as  an  article  of  food,  and  they 
bring  as  high  as  fifty  cents  a  dozen. 

The  wild  buffalo  enables  those  who  are  anxious  to  look  for  dan 
gerous  sport  to  enjoy  a  buffalo  hunt.  The  tame  buffalo,  however,  is 
the  great  beast  of  burden  of  the  Philippines.  Everywhere  one  goes 
he  sees  this  plodding  and  awkward  beast,  and  the  native  regards  him 
with  the  same  affection  that  a  man  has  in  America  for  a  horse. 
When  a  tame  buffalo  is  six  years  old  he  is  considered  in  the  prime  of 
life  for  hard  work,  and  for  another  six  years,  if  he  is  well  taken  care 
of,  he  will  be  able  to  continue  doing  just  as  hard  labor.  Then  for 
five  years  after  that,  providing  that  he  has  always  been  very  well 
treated,  he  will  be  able  to  do  light  labor  and  earn  his  keep. 

It  is  a  common  sight  to  see  the  natives  in  Manila  down  at  the 
riverside  letting  their  buffaloes  take  a  bath.  It  is  an  amphibious 
animal,  and  if  it  had  its  own  way  would  pass  one-third  of  its  time  in 
water  or  mud,  and  it  is  impossible  to  keep  them  healthy  without 
bathing  them  at  least  once  a  day.  The  buffaloes  are  very  strong  and 


TERRORS  OF  PHILIPPINE  JUNGLES  193 

slow,  but  very  easy  to  train.  The  people  ride  them  without  a 
saddle,  and  a  child  is  able  to  guide  them  by  means  of  a  piece  of  split 
rattan  attached  to  a  string  in  the  nostrils  of  the  animal.  They  recog 
nize  the  voices  of  different  members  of  the  families  to  which  they 
belong,  and  will  obey  the  command  to  come  or  stand  still  when 
spoken  to. 

Singularly  enough  the  Europeans  do  not  seem  to  be  able  to 
manage  these  buffaloes,  as  they  have  neither  the  patience,  the  voice 
or  the  peculiar  movement  which  the  natives  use  to  handle  them. 
The  buffalo  has  not  much  endurance,  and  is  unable  to  work  more  than 
a  couple  of  hours  during  the  hot  part  of  the  day  without  rest  and  a 
bath.  If  it  receives  a  strain  of  any  kind,  or  a  broken  leg,  it  rarely 
recovers,  and  it  is  subject  to  an  affection  of  the  throat  and  diseases 
of  the  blood  which  are  sometimes  epidemic  and  kill  them  off  in  great 
numbers.  These  buffaloes  are  worth  from  $10  to  $30,  according  to 
the  province,  and  to  the  use  to  which  they  are  put. 

The  Philippines  also  have  a  small  pony  which  is  not  indigenous, 
and  which  is  a  fairly  good  little  animal.  Pony  races  take  place  near 
Manila  every  spring,  and  while  the  meet  lasts,  it  is  a  great  occasion, 
being  attended  by  the  Governor-General  and  all  of  the  better-class 
Spaniards  of  the  city.  The  Philippines  are  filled  with  birds  of  beau 
tiful  plumage  and  rare  coloring.  Pheasants,  snipe,  wild  ducks,  wild 
pigeons  and  water  fowl  are  common  ;  parroquets,  parrots,  humming 
birds  and  dozens  of  others  abound  everywhere. 


A  NATIVE   RESIDENCE   IN  THE  SUBURBS  OF  MANILA. 

Every  cottaee  however  humble,  is  surrounded  by  tropical  trees  and  flowers.     The  interiors  are  remarkably  clean  and  cheerful 
Bamboo  enters  largely  into  the  construction  of  all  native  houses  and  they  are  generally  covered  with  thatch. 


atr  I 


THE  STRANGE  WAGONS  OF  ALBAY. 

The  eighty-odd  different  tribes  who  inhabit  the  Philippines  have  varying  dialects,  Banners,  a 
house-roofed  waeons.  shown  in  the  above  illustration,  are  found  in  only  one 


CHAPTER  XI 

Manila,  the  Metropolis  of  the  Philippines 

A  Delightful  City  which  may  become  a  Resort  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. — High  and 
Low  Life. — Foreigners  kept  out  by  the  Spanish  as  much  as  Possible. — The 
Chinese  Class. — The  Splendid  Big  Convent. — Shops  that  Delight  the  Eye. — Rare 
Fabrics  Woven  from  Plants  and  Embroidered  by  Nuns. — A  New  York  Officer's 
Big  Purchase. — A  Dress  that  it  took  Months  to  Weave. — Inside  of  the  English 
Club. — Americans  have  Started  a  Splendid  Club  for  the  Army  and  Navy. — The 
Famous  Mestiza  Girls. 

WHEN,  after  valiant  battle,  the  American  troops  entered  the 
City  of  Manila,  they  found  a  curious  but  delightful  old  place 
without  any  sign  of  having  been  in  touch  with  advanced 
civilization  as  it  exists  to-day,  and  bearing  the  ear  marks  of  a  land 
that  had  come  down  the  years  holding  fast  to  the  traditions  of  cen 
turies  ago,  and  not  yielding  to  the  touch  of  progress. 

But  there  is  something  decidedly  interesting  in  this  capital  city 
of  Luzon,  and  a  visit  to  it  is  well  worth  while,  for  the  old  city  and  the 
new,  the  odd  people,  the  curious  little  houses,  the  estates  of  the  rich, 
the  hovels  of  the  poor,  and  the  customs,  which  are  such  a  remarkable 
blending  of  Spanish  and  native,  all  contribute  to  make  Manila  an 
attractive  temporary,  if  not  permanent  residence. 

Coming  up  the  muddy  Pasig  River  and  wending  one's  way 
through  cascoes  and  dug-outs,  the  traveller  comes  to  this  old  fortified 
city  with  its  bastioncd  and  battlement  walls  built  way  back  in  1598. 
These  walls  are  about  two  miles  and  a  quarter  long,  and  make  the 
city  a  stronghold.  All  around  the  outer  wall  is  water — on  one  side 
of  it  the  Pasig  River,  on  the  other  the  sea,  and  around  the  rest 
the  remnants,  of  an  old  moat,  which  has  long  ago  gone  into  disuse, 
and  which  is  now  filled  with  stagnant  slime  and  offensive  water. 

There  are  eight  drawbridge  entrances  to  the  city  proper,  which 
up  to  1852,  were  always  raised  at  night  closing  the  city  effectually. 
But  the  earthquake  in  that  year  caused  a  change,  and  thereafter  the^e 

197 


198  MANILA.  THE  METROPOLIS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ancient  drawbridges  were  kept  down.  On  the  south  side  of  the 
river,  which  is  the  city  proper,  are  situated  some  government  offices, 
branch  post  and  telegraph  offices,  the  colleges,  convents,  meteoro 
logical  observatory,  and  artillery  depot,  a  cathedral  and  eleven 
churches  ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  or  rather  on  the  island  of 
Binondo,  all  of  the  business  houses  are  situated,  and  this  is  the  lively 
part  of  the  city. 

As  you  enter  the  bay  you  find  two  passages  by  the  little  island 
of  Corregiclor,  on  which  is  a  light  house,  a  signal  station  and  the  fort 
which  sent  the  first  shot  to  announce  the  fact  that  Dewey's  vessels 
had  entered  the  harbor. 

ON    THE    STREETS    OF    MANILA. 

The  streets  of  the  city  are  badly  paved  and  badly  lighted ; 
petroleum  lamps  and  cocoanut  oil  are  largely  used,  although  in  later 
years  electricity  has  been  introduced  in  the  more  favored  avenues 
and  along  the  docks.  The  first  thing  which  impresses  one  on  enter 
ing  the  city  is  the  lowness  of  the  buildings.  Hardly  any  of  the  resi 
dences  are  more  than  two  stories  in  height  and  even  in  these  the 
lower  story  is  not  used  for  living  purposes,  and  is  either  uninhabited 
or  used  as  servants'  quarters  on  account  of  the  dampness.  The 
upper  story  usually  has  a  very  large  hall,  dining  and  reception  rooms 
and  sleeping  rooms  adjoining.  The  kitchen  is  often  separate  from 
the  rest  of  the  house  being  connected  by  a  roofed  passage.  The 
ground  floor  is  usually  of  stone  or  brick  but  the  upper  story  is  almost 
entirely  made  of  wood,  with  sliding  windows  all  around.  These 
windows  are  filled  with  opaque  oyster  shells,  instead  of  glass,  as  they 
admit  the  light  but  not  the  heat  of  the  sun's  rays. 

There  are  no  very  high  buildings  in  the  city  owing  to  the  earth 
quakes.  One  of  the  interesting  places  is  the  great  cathedral  which 
is  probably  its  most  imposing  building,  although  most  of  the  churches 
stand  out  prominently  because  of  the  low  structures  which  prevail  on 
all  sides.  The  City  Hall,  a  number  of  government  buildings,  the 
palace  of  the  Archbishop,  and  the  Jesuit  and  Dominican  colleges 
are  also  prominent  features  of  the  city's  architecture. 

The  city  has  two  lines  of  street  cars,  one  of  which  runs  through 
the  Escolta  which  is  the  principal  high-class  business  street  and  on 


ON  THE  L  UN  ETA—  THE  ORE  A  T  DRI VEWAY  \  99 

through  that  portion  of  the  city  which  is  devoted  to  the  residences 
of  the  Spanish ;  the  other  crosses  the  bridge  and  goes  on  up  the 
Rosario,  and  out  to  the  suburbs.  It  is  funny  in  this  out  of  the  way 
land  beyond  the  sea  to  come  across  street  cars  made  in  Philadelphia. 
They  are  very  small  and  are  drawn  by  single  ponies  of  the  diminu 
tive  Philippine  pattern.  The  approach  of  the  car  is  announced  by 
the  tooting  of  the  horn  of  the  driver. 

ON  THE  LUNETA THE  GREAT  DRIVE  AND  PROMENADE. 

Old  Manila  is  a  very  quiet  happy-go-lucky  sort  of  a  place,  without 
many  attractions.  The  theatres  do  not  amount  to  anything  and 
rarely  have  performances  worth  going  to.  Were  it  not  for  occasional 
cockfights  and  for  the  numerous  religious  processions  which  bring 
out  large  crowds,  and  for  the  drives  in  the  afternoon,  the  place  would 
be  very  dull  indeed.  The  great  drive  and  promenade  of  the  city  is 
the  Luneta,  which  is  an  oval  piece  of  ground  on  which  have  been 
placed  one  or  two  stands  for  bands  and  chairs  and  benches  for  the 
crowd  to  sit  around  and  listen  to  the  music.  In  the  evening  the 
place  is  constantly  thronged  and  the  native  bands,  which  are  splendid 
organizations  with  skilled  musicians,  render  programmes  which 
delight  the  listener,  and  round  and  round  this  place  in  an  apparently 
endless  stream  drive  the  carriages  of  the  well-to-do  people  of  the 
city,  and  the  social  rulers,  going  all  the  time  in  the  same  direction, 
for  it  is  forbidden  for  anybody,  except  the  Governor  or  Archbishop, 
to  drive  in  the  opposite  direction. 

Here,  on  the  Luneta,  many  a  tragic  scene  has  been  enacted,  for 
this  ground  of  pleasure  was  also  the  execution  place  of  the  Spanish. 
Here  they  mowed  down,  before  the  gaze  of  a  motley  crowd  of  on 
lookers,  the  insurgents  who  had  been  condemned  to  death,  and  here, 
on  the  sea-wall,  hundreds  of  poor  unfortunates  gave  up  their  lives 
for  their  country. 

On  the  Escolta,  the  chief  business  street,  are  the  high-class  stores 
of  the  city,  that  is  the  stores  which  keep  European  and  American 
goods,  which  are  very  expensive  owing  to  the  high  tax  that  is  put  on 
them  when  they  are  brought  in.  In  these,  very  tempting  things  are 
displayed  more  for  the  Spanish  residents  and  other  foreigners,  than 
for  the  natives. 


200          MANILA,   THE  METROPOLIS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  latter  deal  almost  entirely  with  Chinese  merchants,  who 
occupy  the  nearby  streets  and  especially  the  Rosario  across  the  river 
which  is  lined  from  one  end  to  the  other  with  Chinese  stores.  They 
sell  everything  on  earth  that  could  be  desired  by  the  native  and 
hqre  the  common  people  jostle  each  other  and  shop  and  enjoy  them 
selves. 

The  sights  in  this  quarter  of  the  city  are  very  interesting.  The 
gay  colors  of  the  native  costumes,  mixing  with  those  of  the  China 
men,  here  and  there  the  uniform  of  a  Spanish  soldier,  occasionally  a 
fair  senorita  driving  by  in  her  carriage,  now  and  then  some  man 
wearing  the  garb  of  a  religious  order,  and  at  the  present  time  the 
ever-present  uniform  of  the  American  soldier  who  has  found  in  this 
quarter  of  the  city  the  most  attractive  place  for  buying  and  for 
mingling  with  the  natives  and  learning  their  curious  habits. 

The  whole  of  Binondo  across  the  river  is  usually  pretty  active. 
It  is  there  that  the  British  merchants  have  their  import  and  export 
headquarters  and  a  large  part  of  the  trade  passes  through  their 
hands.  It  is  a  funny  experience  to  go  through  these  Chinese  Bazaars 
or  stores  to  buy.  One  proprietor  probably  owns  three  or  four  stores 
and  sometimes  ten  or  twelve,  consequently  if  a  customer  does  not  like 
the  price  asked  for  an  article  he  goes  on  to  the  next  place  and  does 
no  better,  because  the  first  man  has  run  around  the  back  way  and  told 
the  other  man  how  much  he  has  asked  for  the  article  and  so,  being 
under  one  management,  this  one  charges  the  same,  so  finally  the 
customer  pays  the  price  asked. 

The  Chinese  control  such  things  as  bootmaking,  furniture  mak 
ing,  casting,  painting,  dyeing,  while  the  natives  are  the  silversmiths, 
the  furniture  polishers,  the  bookbinders,  etc.  The  Germans  had  a 
monopoly  of  the  drug  stores  not  long  ago,  but  the  educated  natives 
and  half-castes  have  entered  the  field  and  are  now  largely  controlling 
the  business. 

HACKMEN    WHO    DO    NOT    IMPOSE    ON    TRAVELERS. 

When  one  wants  to  go  around  the  city,  he  hires  a  carriage  and 
Filipino  pony,  at  a  very  moderate  rate,  and  wonderful  to  relate,  the 
driver  will  not  try  to  cheat  you.  He  charges  you  so  much  a  mile, 
and  very  rarely  overcharges. 


HOLIDAYS  ARE  PLENTIFUL  201 

During  Holy  Thursday  and  Good  Friday  of  Easter  week,  the 
whole  business  of  the  town  is  absolutely  suspended.  Carriages,  or 
any  other  vehicles  are  not  allowed  on  the  streets  ;  the  shops  are 
closed  and  the  whole  city  is  still.  Even  the  soldiers  who  are  on  duty 
are  forced  to  point  the  muzzles  of  their  guns  to  the  ground  as  they 
walk  along.  All  of  the  people  who  appear  on  the  streets  wear 
black,  even  the  natives.  There  is  an  imposing  religious  procession 
on  Good  Friday  afternoon,  which  winds  through  the  city  and  out 
into  the  suburbs.  All  the  church-bells  are  tolled  with  muffled  ham 
mers  until  after  the  following  Saturday  morning's,  mass.  It  is  a 
curious  sight  to  see  the  expectant  throng  of  people  waiting  for  the 
signal  of  unmuffled  bells  to  announce  that  the  feast  is  over.  In  all 
the  alleys  and  by-ways,  public  and  private  vehicles  are  ready,  and  the 
minute  the  bells  are  rung,  the  streets  become  an  active,  shouting, 
jumbled  mass  of  humanity,  trying  to  make  up  for  lost  time  in  their 
business. 

WHERE    HOLIDAYS    ARE    PLENTIFUL. 

The  religious  feasts  and  processions  are  so  common  that  I  have 
heard  it  stated  that  out  of  the  365  days  in  the  year,  160  are  holidays 
of  some  sort  or  other,  chiefly  Saints'  days.  Each  village  and  each 
suburb,  both  in  the  capital  and  outside  of  it,  is  supposed  to  be  looked 
after  by  some  patron  Saint,  which  has  his  special  day,  and  every 
annual  feast  is  taken  as  an  excuse  for  a  big  procession. 

IN    A    MANILA    HOTEL A    MANILA    BED. 

There  are  in  Manila  two  hotels,  which  are  considered  very  good 
as  hotels  go.  It  takes  a  European  some  time  to  get  used  to  the 
cooking  of  native  dishes,  and  it  takes  him  still  longer  to  get  used  to 
the  Philippine  idea  of  comfort  while  asleep.  It  is  no  small  task  to 
wrestle  with  a  Philippine  bed,  which  is  springless,  unyielding  and 
anything  but  comfortable.  It  has  four  high  posts  covered  with  lace 
curtains,  and  usually  a  mosquito  bar.  Where  an  American  bed 
boasts  springs,  it  has  a  rattan  surface,  similar  to  that  of  a  rattan 
chair,  which  is  extremely  hard,  and  the  thin  mat  which  is  placed  over 
it  and  the  hard  pillow  and  almost  as  hard  bolster  which  are  given  one 
to  sleep  on  are  not  conducive  to  rest.  It  is  rather  a  serious  task  to 
get  into  one  of  these  beds  without  allowing  the  mosquitoes  to  pre- 


202          MANILA,  THE  METROPOLIS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

cede  you,  but  one  gets  the  hang  of  it  after  awhile  and  manages  to 
get  to  sleep.  From  i  to  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  most  people  are 
asleep.  Lunch  hour  all  over  the  colony  is  noon,  and  the  visiting 
hours  are  from  5  till  7  in  the  evening.  Dinner  is  served  at  about 
8  o'clock,  and  after  that  the  more  formal  functions  take  place. 

The  social  class  distinction  is  not  as  rigidly  carried  out  in  Manila 
as  it  is  in  some  of  the  British  Colonies,  India  for  example.  The 
Spaniards  exchange  visits  with  some  of  the  Mestiza  class,  and  even 
with  some  of  the  wealthier  of  the  natives.  Everybody  is  hospitable 
as  a  rule  to  visitors.  The  government  officials,  however,  have  never 
encouraged  the  visits  of  foreigners  to  Manila ;  in  fact,  they  have 
done  their  best  to  discourage  them.  Nevertheless  there  is  quite  a 
large  colony  of  foreigners,  all  of  them  representatives  of  business 
firms,  who  do  heavy  trade  with  the  islands. 

Everywhere  you  go  in  Manila  (or  at  least  this  was  true  during  the 
Spanish  regime),  one  would  have  a  lottery  ticket  poked  in  his  face. 
The  lotteries  were  in  control  of  the  Spanish  government,  and  they 
made  a  revenue  amounting  to  half  a  million  dollars  annually  from 
the  sale  of  tickets. 

COCKFIGHTING    IN    MANILA. 

The  Filipinos  have  a  great  passion  for  cockfighting,  and  this 
too  was  in  control  of  the  government,  which  received  from  it  a  very 
large  return.  Cockfighting  is  allowed  only  on  Sundays  and  feast 
days,  and,  by  special  permission  in  Manila  alone,  on  Thursdays.  The 
tax  for  a  pit  is  rented  out  to  the  highest  bidder  for  a  fixed  sum.  The 
laws  in  regard  to  this  sport  are  very  strict.  The  maximum  amount 
which  may  be  staked  by  any  one  person  in  one  contest  is  $50,  and  it 
is  regulated  that  the  bird  shall  wear  but  one  metal  spur.  The  sport 
causes  the  same  enthusiasm  among  the  natives  as  horse  racing  does 
in  England,  and  they  will  spend  years  training  a  bird  which  perhaps 
might  be  killed  in  the  very  first  fight. 

Much  has  been  written  about  bullfights,  which  always  took  place 
at  Placo.  They  were  very  mild  affairs,  at  worst,  and  attracted  a  very 
inferior  quality  of  the  natives.  Most  of  the  fights  were  ludicrous 
instead  of  interesting,  in  which  the  fighters  would  go  up  and  twist 
the  tail  of  the  bull  or  vault  over  his  head  as  he  came  toward  them  in 
a  mad  rush,  amid  the  hoots  of  the  crowd. 


WEA  VING  PIN  A  CLOTH  IN  THE  CONVENTS  20  j 

There  are  five  daily  papers  in  Manila,  three  of  which  are  con 
sidered  good.  This  does  not  include  the  new  paper  which  has  just 
been  founded  by  the  army  boys  from  the  United  States,  which  is  a 
lively  little  sheet  devoted  to  American  interests. 

One  of  the  places  which  the  American  officers  found  open  to 
them,  and  in  which  they  have  enjoyed  many  a  pleasant  evening,  was 
the  European  Club,  which  occupies  a  very  handsome  place  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Pasig  River,  about  twenty  minutes'  drive  from 
Manila.  The  controlling  spirits  in  this  organization  are  the  English- 
speaking  people  employed  in  the  big  commercial  houses,  but  a  num 
ber  of  the  prominent  Spanish  residents  are  also  members  of  the 
club.  As  soon  as  the  American  troops  landed  on  the  island  and  took 
possession  of  Manila,  the  first  thing  the  army  men  decided  to  do  was 
to  establish  an  American  club,  and  negotiations  were  entered  into  for 

o 

a  splendid  property  in  the  residence  section  of  the  city,  which  doubt 
less  by  this  time  have  been  completed  and  the  first  steps  taken  for 
the  introduction  of  American  club  life  into  the  Philippines. 

WEAVING    PINA    CLOTH    IN    THE    CONVENTS. 

There  is  more  curiosity  on  the  part  of  American  soldiers  in  the 
weaving  of  the  Filipinos  than  in  anything  else.  The  beautiful  pina 
cloth,  which  is  woven  from  the  pineapple  fibre,  is  a  fabric  which 
arouses  the  envy  of  every  man  who  has  a  wife,  sister  or  sweetheart  in 
America.  The  weaving  is  done  in  the  convents,  and  there  hundreds 
of  the  natives,  guarded  by  the  nuns,  work  from  morn  until  dewy  eve, 
turning  out  the  finest  fabric  and  the  most  beautiful  embroidery  pos 
sible. 

They  embroider  birds  in  natural  plumage,  flowers  so  natural  that 
one  thinks  the  odor  will  come  from  them,  and  fanciful  designs  that 
would  cause  the  average  American  girl  to  catch  her  breath  and  break 
the  commandment  which  forbids  covetousness.  One  rich  New  York 
man,  who  is  a  volunteer  officer,  ordered  a  magnificently  embroidered 
gown  for  his  daughter.  It  cost  a  fortune,  and  people  came  from  far 
and  near  to  look  at  the  material  while  it  was  being  made,  and  for  the 
two  months  during  which  these  convent  workers  toiled  over  that 
beautiful  fabric,  it  was  the  show  piece  of  the  whole  city  and  one  of 
the  great  attractions  to  all  who  were  there. 


204          MANILA,  THE  METROPOLIS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE^ 

The  dainty  handkerchiefs,  embroidered  with  a  skill  that  is  won 
derful  ;  the  magnificent  screens  of  sandalwood,  carved  by  native 
artists  and  containing  fabric  woven  with  the  hands  of  experts  ;  the 
equally  dainty  fans  of  sandalwood,  covered  with  cloth  and  embroi 
dered  true  to  nature  ;  the  curious  spoons  wrought  by  the  native 
workers,  the  magnificent  silks  offered  at  low  prices  by  the  Chinese 
merchants,  all  were  tempting  inducements  to  the  army  boys,  and 
thousands  of  dollars  were  given  in  exchange  for  these  gifts  to  be  sent 
home. 

Perhaps  more  is  known  of  the  Mestiza  girls  than  of  any  other 
inhabitants  of  the  island.  They  are  the  half-caste  people,  who  are 
really  the  prettiest  types  of  women  on  the  island.  They  have  long  flow 
ing,  hair  which  reaches  almost  to  the  ground,  and  its  shiny  blackness 
makes  it  beautiful  to  see.  They  too  are  the  most  graceful  and  noted 
of  the  dancers  of  the  island,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  social  function  in 
which  they  do  not  figure  conspicuously. 

Such  is  the  life  in  this,  the  leading  city  of  our  new  possession. 
It  is  the  abiding  place  of  about  300,000  people,  of  which  200,000  are 
natives,  90,000  are  Chinese  and  Chinese  half-castes,  5,000  are  Span 
ish  and  3,000  white  foreigners  other  than  Spaniards. 

It  is  the  nearest  mart  to  the  civilized  world  outside.  From  it 
run  the  monthly  Spanish  mail  steamers  and  the  smaller  boats  which 
go  to  Hong  Kong.  Who  knows  what  the  future  may  bring  forth  for 
this,  the  chief  town  of  the  Philippines,  in  its  ripe  old  age  ?  Who 
knows  how  many  ships  will  come  and  go  under  the  policy  of  the  open 
door  ?  Who  can  tell  what  wealth  will  sail  from  out  her  ports  now  that 
the  arsenal,  there  flies  the  Stars  and  Stripes  ? 


CHAPTER   XII 

Other  Important  Cities  of  the  Islands 

A  Sight-seeing  Trip  to  Iloilo,  Second  in  Commercial  Importance  to  Manila — Cebu, 
which  once  Outranked  it,  Leyte  and  other  Places  of  Importance. — Scenes  and 
Incidents  among  the  Strange  Population. — The  Terrible  Sultan  of  Sulu. — Super 
stitions  of  the  Moros. — Funny  Episodes  of  a  very  Lively  Trip. 

A  VISIT  to  Iloilo,  the  second  city  of  importance  in  the  Philippines 
is  extremely  disappointing  after  one  has  been  to  Manila.  The 
little  mail  steamer  that  takes  you  to  the  island  of  Panay,  of 
which  Iloilo  is  the  capital,  is  a  dingy  little  affair,  but  even  it  seems  out 
of  place  as  it  comes  to  anchor  in  front  of  the  shabby-looking  creek  on 
which  Iloilo  is  situated.  The  shore  is  almost  as  nature  made  it, 
except  for  slight  embankments  of  soil  which  have  been  thrown  up  to 
protect  some  of  the  produce  houses  against  the  water. 

There  is  neither  wharf  nor  improvements,  and  the  steamers  get 
as  near  the  shore  as  it  is  possible  for  them  to  go,  and  then  land  their 
passengers  over  a  plank  which  extends  from  the  deck  to  the  shore 
itself.  It  is  a  low,  forbidding-looking  place,  this  Iloilo.  It  is  hot 
all  of  the  time,  and  in  addition  to  this  it  is  dirty  and  badly  cared 
for.  From  the  point  where  the  creek  enters  into  the  sea  up  to  the 
square  in  the  centre  of  the  city  there  is  a  series  of  sheds,  used  to 
store  sugar  in,  punctuated  here  and  there  by  offices  of  commercial 
firms.  The  largest  buildings  in  the  place  are  the  headquarters  of  the 
various  tradespeople  who  have  made  Iloilo  what  it  is.  Not  many 
years  ago  this  town  was  unknown  to  the  commercial  world,  and  the 
annual  crop  of  sugar  which  it  drew  from  the  island  was  practically 
allowed  to  go  to  waste  because  the  expense  of  carrying  it  up  to 
Manila  left  little  profit  for  the  owners  of  plantations,  and  did  not 
encourage  them  to  engage  largely  in  business. 

Then  came  the  change.  A  number  of  English  and  German 
business  men  saw  the  opportunity  for  reaping  a  rich  harvest  from 
this  very  fruitful  little  isle,  and  they  established  headquarters  there  and 

205 


206  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

had  direct  communication  with  foreign  ports.  The  result  was  that  the 
unknown  village  of  Iloilo  soon  surpassed  Cebu  in  trade  and  became 
a  town  second  only  to  Manila  in  size  and  in  business  importance. 

IN    THE    ILL-KEPT    SQUARE    OF    ILOILO. 

In  the  square,  which  is,  like  most  of  the  city,  in  a  perpetually 
bad  condition,  are  the  church,  the  tribunal,  the  convent  and  a  few 
small  houses.  At  one  side  of  this  square  is  a  new  block  of  buildings 
made  of  brick,  stone  and  wood,  with  iron  roof,  really  the  most 
respectable  part  of  the  city  in  appearance.  The  main  street  is  the 
Calle  Real,  which  does  not  run  in  a  straight  line,  but  winds  its  way 
out  into  the  country.  The  houses  make  no  pretence  to  beauty. 
They  are  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  and  as  for  a  building  line  on  the 
streets  such  a  thing  is  comparatively  unknown,  and  in  some  places 
one  has  to  walk  .off  the  pavement  out  into  the  middle  of  the  road  to 
pass  a  house. 

All  around  are  rows  of  dirty-looking  little  houses  which  are 
inhabited  by  the  poorer  class.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  building  in 
the  place  is  the  Government  house,  which  is  made  of  stone  and  wood. 
In  front  of  it  is  a  little  garden  in  the  shape  of  a  semicircle,  and  in 
front  of  this  is  a  little  round  fenced-in  piece  of  ground,  in  the  middle 
of  which  is  a  flag-pole.  About  one-third  of  the  business  quarter  of 
the  town  is  built  on  land  which  some  years  before  was  nothing  but  a 
swamp,  and  has  been  reclaimed  by  being  filled  up  with  earth. 

All  during  the  wet  season  the  place  is  a  mass  of  shallow  pools 
and  mud.  It  is  a  pretty  expensive  place  to  live  in,  and  there  is  little 
to  do  after  one  gets  there.  One  cannot  hire  any  conveyance  of  any 
kind,  and  there  are  no  theatres  or  places  of  amusement,  unless  a 
bowling  alley  may  be  classed  under  the  latter  head.  The  streets  are 
practically  deserted,  except  for  bullock-carts  filled  with  sugar  cane. 

Sugar  is  the  chief  stimulus  to  the  life  of  the  city.  One  can  guess 
that  readily,  because  the  odor  of  it  pervades  the  whole  place.  After 
the  insurgents  obtained  possession  of  Iloilo,  ruin  and  devastation 
played  havoc  with  the  town.  It  became  more  unkempt  and  uninvit 
ing  than  before,  and  when  the  American  troops  captured  it,  it  was 
reeking  with  filth.  At  the  other  end  of  the  island  is  the  town  of 
Concepcion,  near  which  there  are  many  exceedingly  fertile  sugar 


THE  FAMOUS  "HOLY  CHILD  OF  CEBU"  20; 

plantations.  It  is  even  a  more  despondent-looking  place  than  the 
capital  city.  The  whole  place  is  dilapidated,  the  people  are  poverty- 
stricken,  and,  altogether,  it  is  neither  convenient  nor  pleasant  to  live 
in.  From  Concepcion  it  is  but  a  short  journey  to  Cebu,  on  the  east 
coast  of  the  island  of  the  same  name.  Years  ago  this  was  a  flourish 
ing  and  important  commercial  center.  It  possesses  considerable 
interests,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  first  place  upon  which  the  Spanish 
settled  in  the  Philippines,  and  from  1565  to  1571  it  was  the  capital  of 
the  whole  colony. 

Now  it  has  a  population  of  about  10,000.  It  forms  quite  a  con 
trast  to  its  rival,  Iloilo,  in  that  it  is  clean  and  well  kept,  and  the  roads 
which  lead  from  it  are  in  a  very  good  condition  for  some  miles.  The 
city  has  a  customhouse  and  is  open  to  trade  with  the  foreign  coun 
tries.  It  has  a  cathedral,  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas,  the  chapels  of 
the  Paulist  Fathers  and  the  Jesuits  and  the  Church  of  the  Santo 
Nino,  "the  Holy  Child  of  Cebu." 

THE  FAMOUS  "  HOLY  CHILD  OF  CEBU." 

This  church  is  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  all  the  religious 
places  in  the  whole  archipelago.  It  was  on  this  spot  that  an  image 
of  the  Christ  Child  was  alleged  to  have  been  found  in  July,  1565,  by 
a  soldier  named  Juan  de  Camus.  This  image  was  venerated  and  kept 
by  the  Austin  friars  as  though  it  were  a  sacred  gift  direct  from  Heaven. 
A  fire  occurred  in  the  church  in  which  the  image  stood  in  1627,  but 
the  image  itself  was  saved,  and  has  been  ever  since  considered  the 
most  wonderful  of  all  the  sacred  relics  of  the  island. 

It  is  made  of  wood,  is  black,  and  is  about  fifteen  inches  in  height. 
As  it  exists  to-day,  it  is  almost  covered  with  valuable  trinkets  which 
have  been  presented  to  it.  When  it  is  shown  to  the  public  the  occa 
sion  is  always  one  of  great  festivity,  and  the  image  is  worshiped  with 
a  fervor  that  is  almost  incredible.  In  fact,  during  the  feasts  held  in 
its  honor,  natives  come  from  all  parts  of  the  island  to  prostrate  them 
selves  before  it. 

In  this  city,  too,  is  the  spot  where  the  first  cross  was  erected 
upon  the  island  on  the  day  when  Legaspi  landed.  This  sacred  relic 
also  has  the  reputation  of  having  been  miraculously  preserved.  It 
is  made  of  bamboo,  and  although  the  edifice  in  which  it  was  placed 


208  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

was  once  burned  to  the  ground,  this  cross  rose  unscathed  from  the 
flames,  according  to  tradition,  and  is  still  worshiped  second  only  to 
the  wonderful  image. 

The  channel  which  leads  up  to  the  city  is  marked  by  buoys,  and 
there  are  four  lighthouses  which  show  the  entrance  to  the  port. 
Right  in  front  of  the  city  is  Magtan  Island,  on  which  has  been  erected 
a  monument  to  show  the  spot  where  Magellan,  the  discoverer  of  the 
Philippines,  met  his  death  by  being  mixed  up  with  a  conflict  between 
two  of  the  native  chiefs. 

Not  far  back  of  the  city  is  a  range  of  hills,  from  the  top  of 
which  the  view  is  extremely  beautiful.  In  the  ward  of  Pampango 
there  still  remains  the  old  fortress  of  San  Vidal,  which  was  built 
when  the  Spanish  first  formed  a  settlement  there.  The  Chinese  shops 
are  in  the  Lutao  district,  and  the  half-caste  shops  are  chiefly  grouped 
in  the  Parian,  which  was  at  one  time  the  most  important  part  of  the 
city,  but  which  has  lately  fallen  in  decay. 

At  Guadaloupe  and  Mabolo  are  the  big  cemeteries  of  the  city, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  road  leading  to  the  former  is  the  place  where 
shooting  contests  and  the  annual  pony  races  take  place.  On  the  way 
to  Mabolo  there  is  the  hospital  for  lepers,  those  poor  unfortunates, 
who  sent  over,  sarcastically  no  doubt,  as  a  gift  from  the  Emperor  of 
China,  are  still  to  be  found  both  in  Manila  and  in  this,  the  original 
settlement  of  the  Spanish,  living  out  their  loathsome  lives,  confined 
rigorously  under  the  law,  and  a  public  charge  until  death  comes  to 
their  relief. 

The  city  has  vice-consulates  representing  America,  Great  Britain, 
Italy  and  Germany,  and  there  is  quite  a  little  colony  of  foreign  resi 
dents  there  who  are  engaged  in  commerce.  It  is  the  residence  of 
the  Brigadier-Governor  of  the  Visayas  and  of  the  Governor  of  the 
island. 

The  climate  of  the  island  is  very  healthy,  and  altogether  it  is  a 
delightful  place  to  live  in.  The  whole  population  of  the  island  is 
about  600,000. 

But  by  far  the  most  interesting,  and,  it  may  be  added,  the  most 
troublesome  of  the  residents  of  the  archipelago,  are  those  in  the 
domain  of  the  Sultan  of  Sulu.  Since  the  Spaniards  first  landed  on 
the  Philippine  Islands  there  has  been  more  slaughter  and  more 


AN  AGREEMENT  WITH  THE  SULTAN  OF  SULU  209 

trouble  from  this  little  group  of  islands  than  from  any  of  the  larger 
islands,  excepting  perhaps  Luzon.  The  very  first  overtures  made  to 
the  ruler  of  the  region  round  about  Sulu  resulted  in  the  decapitation 
of  the  General  who  was  sent  to  make  the  overtures,  and  the  return 
of  his  body  to  the  Governor  at  Manila,  and  that  seemed  to  be  the 
fate  of  all  the  first  emissaries  of  the  Spanish  Government  to  this  ter 
rible  Sultan. 

And  not  only  was  he  a  terror  to  the  Spanish,  but  he  ruled  over 
a  people  famous  far  and  near  as  brigands  and  pirates.  These  natives, 
who  call  themselves  Moros,  but  whom  the  Spanish  call  Mussulmans, 
are  still  as  wild  as  they  were  in  the  old  days,  for  civilization  has  had 
apparently  no  effect  on  them. 

For  over  two  centuries  and  a  half  their  war  junks  visited  every 
part  of  the  adjoining  islands  and  laid  waste  the  territory.  Thousands 
of  the  colonists  were  murdered,  and  others  suffered  a  fate  worse  than 
death  by  being  kept  as  slaves  and  made  to  serve  the  caprices  of  their 
captors.  Villages  and  churches  were  destroyed,  and  for  many  years 
nothing  was  safe  in  the  archipelago.  They  did  not  even  stop  at 
Luzon  ;  and  it  is  still  in  the  minds  of  some  who  are  alive  how  the 
approach  of  the  pirates  in  the  Bay  of  Manila  struck  terror  into  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  It  was  not  until  1860  that  any  check  at  all 
could  be  put  upon  this  reign  of  terror,  but  in  that  year  eighteen 
steam  gunboats,  which  cruised  around  the  waters  in  the  neighborhood, 
brought  some  degree  of  safety  to  the  colonists,  and  piracy,  as  a 
wholesale  business,  became  a  thing  of  the  past. 

AN  AGREEMENT  WITH  THE  SULTAN  OF  SULU. 

Many  years  before  this  occurred,  the  Sultan  of  Sulu  entered  into 
a  compact  with  the  Spanish  authorities  by  which  he  acknowledged 
the  sovereignty  of  the  King  of  Spain,  but  this  amounted  only  to  as 
much  as  the  parchment  it  was  written  on,  for  the  Sultan  of  Sulu  did 
as  he  pleased  ;  and  even  if  he  personally  were  disposed  to  be  friendly 
to  the  Spaniards,  there  was  always  a  rival  willing  to  take  up  the  lance 
against  him  and  oust  him  from  his  throne. 

And  so  things  went  on  until  1876,  when  the  uprisings  of  the 
people  attained  such  proportions  that  an  expedition  was  necessary  to 
enforce  submission.  A  large  body  of  troops,  headed  by  Vice-Admiral 


2io  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

Malcampo,  went  to  the  islands,  marched  into  the  interior  and  inciden- 
tally  into  ambush,  so  that  sacrifice  of  life  was  great.  It,  however, 
accomplished  a  little,  and  the  Spanish  flag  was  raised  in  several  places, 
where  it  was  still  flying,  before  the  United  States  came  into  posses 
sion  of  the  islands. 

RULER    OVER    ONE    HUNDRED    AND    FORTY    ISLANDS. 

The  domain  under  the  rule  of  the  Sultan  comprises  Sulu  Island, 
which  is  about  thirty-four  miles  long  and  twelve  miles  wide,  and  one 
hundred  and  forty  smaller  islands,  half  or  more  of  which  are  not 
inhabited.  The  number  of  people  embraced  in  the  Sultan's  dominion 
is  about  107,000.  Besides  these,  there  is  a  half-caste  branch  of  Mus 
sulmans,  nominally  under  this  Sultan's  rule,  who  inhabit  the  southern 
half  of  Palauan  Island. 

The  present  Sultan  did  not  inherit  the  throne,  but  was  practi 
cally  elected  by  his  own  people.  In  1885,  when  the  rightful  heir  to 
the  Sultanate  was  sent  for  to  come  to  Manila  to  receive  his  investi 
ture,  he  declined  to  comply,  probably  having  in  mind  the  fate  of  his 
predecessors  who  went  to  Manila  for  the  same  purpose  and  were 
made  prisoners,  and  finally  lost  their  lives.  So  the  Spanish  authori 
ties  announced  that  they  would  confer  the  Sultanate  upon  anybody 
the  people  elected. 

An  election  was  held,  and  when  the  throne  was  offered  to  the 
man  chosen,  he  accepted  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King 
of  Spain  on  the  24th  of  September,  1886.  He  was  then  given  the 
title  of  His  Excellency  Paduca  Majasari  Malauna  Amiril  Maumi- 
nin  Sultan  Harun  Narrasid.  In  addition  to  this  he  was  given 
the  [rank  and  grade  of  a  Spanish  Lieutenant-General.  The  Sultan 
had  hardly  become  settled  in  his  new  office  before  the  leaders  of  what 
is  called  the  National  party,  which  is  a  party  opposed  to  the  acknow 
ledgment  of  the  dominion  of  Spain  over  the  islands,  rose  up  in  arms 
against  him.  The  insurrection  spread  to  the  adjoining  islands  of 
Siassi  and  Bongao.  The  chief  of  the  latter  island,  whose  name  was 
Pandan,  was  arrested,  and  the  garrison  of  Sulu  was  greatly  reinforced 
and  strengthened  in  the  great  expectation  of  a  general  uprising.  In 
the  meantime  one  of  the  most  cruel  of  the  Mussulman  chiefs  named 
Utto  openly  defied  Spanish  authority.  Consequently  an  expedition 


A  FORTUNE  SPENT  IN  SUBJUGATION  211 

was  sent  out  against  him,  and  after  two  months  of  vigorous  fighting, 
peace  was  declared  between  the  two,  and  the  event  was  the  sign  for 
a  great  celebration  at  Manila,  the  feast  lasting  for  some  days. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that,  whatever  expedition  is  sent 
against  these  savage  tribes  is  successful,  as  far  as  victory  in  conflict  is 
concerned,  it  is  still  true  that  little  effect  has  been  made  upon  the 
Mussulmans  from  the  standpoint  of  civilization.  They  decline  to  learn 
either  civilized  religion  or  civilized  ways,  and,  although  kept  down  in 
places  by  force  of  arms,  nevertheless,  the  moment  the  back  of 
authority  is  turned,  they  instinctively  turn  to  their  weapons  and  sav 
agery  wins  the  day. 

A    FORTUNE    SPENT    IN    SUBJUGATION. 

It  has  cost  a  fortune  for  the  Spaniards  to  gain  the  little  foothold 
which  they  have  had  ;  and  yet,  even  then,  it  was  not  safe  for  Spanish 
officers  to  wander  very  far  out  of  town  without  a  strong  body-guard. 

Under  the  present  state  of  things,  that  is,  the  state  of  things 
that  existed  before  the  possession  of  the  islands  by  the  United  States, 
the  Sultan  of  Sulu  received  a  salary  of  $2,400  from  the  Government 
of  Spain.  He  was  practically  the  lord  and  master  of  all  his  subjects 
and  all  that  they  owned.  He  was  supported  by  three  ministers,  a 
Minister  of  War,  a  Minister  of  Justice,  and  another  one  who  acts  in 
his  capacity  when  he  leaves. 

John  Foreman  tells  of  a  very  interesting  trip  which  he  made  in 
1 88 1  to  the  Sultan  of  Sulu.  The  danger  of  such  a  trip  may  be 
imagined  when  it  is  stated  that  a  young  officer  had  been  sent  on 
some  mission  just  outside  of  the  town  accompanied  by  two  guards, 
and  had  returned  with  one  of  his  hands  cut  off  as  a  souvenir  of  a 
brush  with  the  Mussulmans  ;  a  number  of  military  officers  were  sitting 
in  a  cafe  in  the  town  when  a  number  of  Mussulmans  came  up  behind 
them  and  cut  their  throats.  Both  of  these  events  took  place  a  day 
or  two  before  Mr.  Foreman's  trip.  Describing  his  visit,  Mr.  Fore 
man  said  : 

"  On  our  arrival  at  Maybun,  we  went  first  to  the  bungalow  of  a 
Chinaman — the  Sultan's  brother-in-law — where  we  refreshed  ourselves 
with  our  own  provisions  and  learned  the  gossip  of  the  place.  On 
inquiry,  we  were  told  that  the  Sultan  was  sleeping,  so  we  waited  at 


212  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

the  Chinaman's.  I  understood  this  man  was  a  trader,  but  there  were 
no  visible  signs  of  his  doing  any  business.  Most  of  our  party  slept  the 
siesta,  and  at  about  4  o'clock  we  called  at  the  palace.  It  was  a  very 
large  building,  well  constructed,  and  appeared  to  be  built  almost 
entirely  of  materials  of  his  country.  A  deal  of  bamboo  and  wood 
were  used  in  it,  and  even  the  roof  was  made  of  split  bamboo,  although 
I  am  told  that  this  was  replaced  by  sheet  iron  when  the  young  Sultan 
came  to  the  throne.  The  vestibule  was  very  spacious,  and  all 
around  pleasantly  decorated  with  lovely  shrubs  and  plants  peculiar 
to  most  mid-tropical  regions.  The  entrance  to  the  palace  is  always 
open,  and  we  were  received  by  three  Dattos,  who  saluted  us  in  a 
formal  way,  and,  without  needing  to  ask  us  any  Question,  invited  us, 
with  a  wave  of  the  hand,  to  follow  into  the  throne-room. 

IN    THE    PRESENCE    OF    THE    SULTAN. 

"  The  Sultan  was  seated,  on  our  entering,  but  when  the  bearer 
of  the  despatches  approached  with  the  official  interpreter  by  his  side, 
and  with  us  following,  he  rose  in  his  place  to  greet  us. 

"  His  Excellency  was  dressed  in  very  tight  silk  trousers,  fastened 
partly  up  the  sides  with  showy  chased  gold  "or  gilt  buttons,  a  short 
Eton-cut  olive  green  jacket,  with  an  infinity  of  buttons,  white  socks, 
ornamented  slippers,  a  red  sash  around  his  waist,  a  kind  of  turban, 
and  a  kris  at  his  side.  One  could  almost  have  imagined  him  to  be  a 
Spanish  bullfighter  with  an  Oriental  finish-off. 

"  We  all  bowed  low,  and  the  Sultan,  surrounded  by  his  Sultanas, 
put  his  hands  to  his  temples,  and,  on  lowering  them,  he  bowed  at  the 
same  time.  We  remained  standing,  whilst  some  papers  were  handed 
to  him.  He  looked  at  them — a  few  words  were  said  in  Spanish,  to 
the  effect  that  the  bearers  saluted  His  Excellency  in  the  name  of  the 
Governor  of  Sulu.  The  Sultan  passed  the  documents  to  the  official 
interpreter,  who  read  or  explained  them  in  Sulu  language  ;  then  a 
brief  conversation  ensued,  through  the  interpreter,  and  the  business 
was  really  over.  There  was  a  pause,  and  the  Sultan  motioned  to  us 
to  repose  on  cushions  on  the  floor,  and  we  did  so.  The  cushions, 
covered  with  rich  silks,  were  very  comfortable.  Servants,  in  fantastic 
costumes,  were  constantly  in  attendance,  serving  betel  nut  to  those 
who  cared  to  chew  it. 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  HIS  SULTANAS  213 

"  One  Sultana  was  fairly  pretty,  or  had  been  so,  but  the  remain 
der  were  heavy,  languid  and  lazy  in  their  movements  ;  and  their 
teeth,  dyed  black,  did  not  embellish  their  personal  appearance.  The 
Sultan  made  various  inquiries,  and  passed  many  compliments  on  us, 
the  Governor,  Governor-General  and  others,  which  were  conveyed 
to  us  through  the  interpreter.  Meanwhile,  the  Sultanas  chatted 
amongst  themselves,  and  I  guessed  they  must  have  been  criticizing 
us  as  much  as  we  were  observing  their  guise,  features,  attire,  etc. 
They  all  wore  light  colored  "dual  garments"  of  great  width  and 
tight  bodices.  Their  coiffure  was  carefully  finished,  but  unfortu 
nately  a  part  of  the  forehead  was  hidden  by  an  ugly  fringe  of  hair — a 
disfigurement  which,  however,  is  common  among  Hongkong  Eura 
sians  and  some  European  ladies. 

"  We  had  so  little  in  common  to  converse  on,  and  that  little 
had  to  be  said  through  an  interpeter,  that  we  were  rather  glad  when 
we  were  asked  to  take  refreshments.  They  at  least  served  to  relieve 
the  awkward  feeling  of  looking  at  each  other  in  silence.  Chocolate  and 
ornamental  sweetmeats  were  brought  to  us,  but  what  frightful  mix 
ture  the  chocolate  was,  I  could  not  tell,  I  believe  it  was  made  with 
cocoanut  oil,  and  to  avoid  a  scene  consequent  on  an  indisposition,  I 
elected  to  leave  it. 

"We  were  about  to  take  our  departure,  when  the  Sultan  invited 
us  to  remain  all  night  in  the  palace.  The  leader  of  our  party  caused 
to  be  explained  to  him  that  we  were  thankful  for  his  gracious  offer, 
but  that  being  so  numerous,  we  feared  to  disturb  His  Excellency  by 
intruding  so  far  on  his  hospitality.  Still  the  Sultan  politely  insisted, 
and  whilst  the  interpretation  was  being  transmitted,  I  found  an 
opportunity  to  let  our  chief  know  that  I  had  a  burning  anxiety  to 
stay  at  the  palace  for  the  curiosity.  In  any  case,  we  were  a  large 
number  to  go  anywhere,  so  our  leader,  in  reply  to  the  Sultan,  said, 
that  he  and  four  of  his  accompaniment  would  take  advantage  of  His 
Excellency's  kindness. 

44  We  withdrew  from  the  Sultan's  presence,  and  walked 
through  the  town  in  company  with  some  functionaries  of  the  Royal 
household.  There  was  nothing  very  striking  in  the  town  ;  it  was 
like  most  others.  There  were  some  good  bungalows  of  bamboo  and 
thatching.  I  noticed  that  men,  women  and  children  were  smoking 


214  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

tobacco  or  chewing  and  had  no  visible  occupation.  Many  of  the 
smaller  dwellings  were  built  on  piles  out  to  the  sea.  We  saw  a 
number  of  divers  preparing  to  go  off  to  get  pearls,  mother-of-pearl, 
etc.  They  are  very  expert  in  the  occupation,  and  dive  as  deep  as 
one  hundred  feet.  Prior  to  the  plunge,  they  go  to  a  grotesque  per 
formance  of  waving  their  arms  in  the  air  and  twisting  their  bodies  in 
order — as  they  say — to  frighten  away  the  sharks  ;  then  with  a  whoop, 
they  leap  over  the  edge  of  the  prahu,  and  continue  to  throw  their 
arms  and  legs  about  for  the  purpose  mentioned.  They  often  dive 
for  the  shark  and  rip  it  up  with  a  kris. 

A    NIGHT   IN    THE    SULTAN'S    PALACE. 

"  Five  of  us  retired  to  the  palace  that  night,  and  were  at  once 
conducted  to  our  rooms.  There  was  no  door  to  my  room  ;  it  was,  strictly 
speaking,  an  alcove.  During  the  night,  at  intervals  of  about  every 
hour,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  a  palace  servant  or  guard  came  to  inquire 
how  the  senor  was  sleeping,  and  if  I  were  comfortable,  '  duerme  el 
senor?'  (does  the  gentleman  sleep?)  was  apparently  the  limit  of  his 
knowledge  of  Spanish.  I  did  not  clearly  understand  more  than  the 
fact  that  the  man  was  a  nuisance,  and  I  regretted  there  was  no  door 
with  which  to  shut  him  out.  The  next  morning  we  paid  our  respects 
to  His  Highness,  who  furnished  us  with  an  escort — more  as  a  com 
pliment  than  a  necessity — and  we  reached  Sulu  town  again,  after  a 
very  enjoyable  ride  through  a  superb  country." 

"  These  Sulu  Islanders  have  no  compunctions  of  conscience 
about  killing  people,  and  the  habit  seems  to  be  so  deeply  rooted  in 
them,  that  it  cannot  be  eradicated.  Mr.  Foreman  illustrates  this  as 
follows  :  '  In  1884,  a  Mussulman  was  found  on  a  desolate  isle  lying 
off  the  Antigue  coast  (Panay  Island),  and  of  course,  had  no  docu 
ments  of  identity,  so  he  was  arrested  and  confined  in  the  jail  of  San 
Jose  de  Buenavista.  It  was  rather  a  rough  way  of  treating  any 
unfortunate  castaway.  From  prison  he  was  eventually  taken  to  the 
residence  of  the  Spanish  Governor,  a  very  humane  gentleman,  and  a 
personal  friend  of  mine.  There  he  worked  for  some  little  time 
among  the  other  domestics. 

"  In  the  study  of  Don  Manuel,  the  Governor,  there  was  a  collec 
tion  of  native  arms,  which  took  the  fancy  of  the  Mussulman.  One 


A  GO  VERNOR'S  FIGHT  FOR  LIFE  2 1  5 

morning  he  seized  a  kris  and  lance,  and,  bounding  into  the  breakfast 
room,  capered  about,  gesticulated  and  brandished  the  lance  in  the  air 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  Governor,  and  his  guests.  But  in  an 
instant  the  fellow  (hitherto  a  mystery,  but  undoubtedly  a  juramen- 
tado),  hurled  the  lance  with  great  force  towards  the  public  prosecutor, 
and  the  missile,  after  severing  his  watch-chain,  lodged  in  the  side  of  the 
table.  The  Governor  and  the  public  prosecutor  at  once  closed  with 
the  would-be  assassin,  whilst  the  Governor's  wife,  with  great  presence 
of  mind,  thrust  a  table  knife  into  the  culprit's  body  between  the 
shoulder  blade  and  the  collar  bone.  The  man  fell  as  if  dead,  and, 
when  all  supposed  that  he  was  so,  he  suddenly  jumped  up.  No  one 
had  thought  of  taking  the  kris  out  of  his  grasp,  and  he  rushed  around 
the  apartment,  severely  cut  two  of  the  servants,  but  was  ultimately 
despatched  by  the  bayonets  of  the  guards  who  arrived  on  hearing  the 
scuffle.  The  Governor  showed  me  his  wounds,  which  were  slight, 
but  his  life  was  saved  by  the  valor  of  his  wife — Dona  Justa." 

"  The  costumes  worn  by  the  Sulu  Islanders  are  very  original  and 
striking.  The  women  wear  gay  colors,  with  a  preference  for  green 
and  scarlet.  Their  skirt,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  or  double  lower 
garment,  is  very  loose,  and  their  upper  clothing  is  extremely  tight. 
Their  hair  is  worn  in  a  coil  on  the  top  of  the  head,  and  they  are  very 
much  better  looking  than  most  of  the  people  of  the  Philippines. 
They  are  extremely  fond  of  jewelry,  and  their  hands  and  ears  are 
filled  with  rings,  sometimes  of  metal,  but  more  often  of  sea-shells. 

The  men  wear  costumes  which  are  equally  as  bright  as  those  of 
the  women,  but  the  fit  of  the  costume  is  reversed,  that  is,  their  upper 
garment  is  very  loose,  while  their  lower  ones  are  as  tight  as  a  gymnast's. 
Their  whole  attire  is  plentifully  sprinkled  with  buttons,  and  to  crown 
it  all,  they  add  a  turban,  which  is  very  picturesque,  and  which  tells 
their  rank  by  the  way  in  which  it  is  tied.  They  are  strong,  agile, 
and  rather  attractive  looking  savages,  and  extremely  brave.  For 
weapons  they  have  daggers,  lance-heads,  and  so  on,  manufactured  on 
the  anvil,  showing  a  certain  knowledge  of  the  arts,  and  an  expertness 
of  workmanship.  The  most  curious  thing  they  use,  is  a  coat  of  mail, 
made  of  buffalo  horn  and  wire,  the  latter  probably  obtained  from 
Singapore.  It  protects  splendidly  against  arrows  or  sword  thrusts 
but  not  bullets.  They  are  great  pearl  fishers,  and  the  Sultan  claims  a 


Ji6  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

right  to  all  of  the  pearls  which  are  of  an  unusually  large  size.  They 
are  very  devout  according  to  their  own  ideas  of  religion,  and  their 
priests  are  usually  the  most  influential  men  in  the  various  tribes. 
They  have  one  day  in  the  week  devoted  absolutely  to  worship,  in 
which  they  all  go  to  their  temples  and  listen  to  the  prayers  and  recita 
tions  of  their  priests. 

A    NATIVE    FUNERAL. 

On  the  birth  or  death  of  a  child  or  some  other  important  event 
they  have  a  very  solemn  ceremonial.  They  keep  a  New  Year's  feast 
and  during  the  year  they  have  several  days  of  fasting.  All  of  the 
young  men  above  fifteen  years  of  age  are  supposed  to  be  enrolled  in 
the  service  of  the  Sultan,  and  are  forced  to  carry  arms.  The  priests 
are  the  doctors  as  well.  Whenever  a  chief  dies  they  chant  a  funeral 
hymn,  and  the  bereaved  family  goes  about  lamenting,  accompanied  by 
the  noise  of  symbals  and  gongs.  The  neighbors  rush  in  and  join  in 
the  general  lament,  and  as  soon  as  that  is  over,  they  all  sit  down  to  a 
feast.  The  body  is  sprinkled  with  salt  and  camphor,  but  is  buried 
with  very  little  ceremony.  The  grave  is  marked  by  a  stone  or 
wooden  tablet,  and  a  slip  of  board  of  bamboo  is  placed  around  it,  and 
a  piece  of  wood  carved  like  the  bows  of  a  canoe  is  stuck  in  the  earth 
nearby,  with  a  cocoanut  shell  full  of  water  in  front  of  it. 

The  town  of  Sulu  proper  is  built  on  the  plain  not  very  much 
above  sea  level.  Its  barracks  are  as  fine  as  those  in  Manila.  There 
are  some  houses  of  stone  and  brick,  and  others  of  wood,  with  corru 
gated  iron  roofs.  The  church  is  unpretentious.  There  are  tasteful 
gardens  and  squares  around,  and  the  whole  city  is  well  laid  out  and 
well  drained. 

"  It  is  supplied  with  water  conducted  in  pipes  from  a  spring 
about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  away.  By  this,  and  the  excellent  drain 
age,  the  place  has  become  very  healthful,  although  once  it  was  a  hot 
bed  of  fever.  Around  the  town  is  a  wall,  constructed  for  defence, 
with  two  forts  outside  and  three  inside.  It  is  a  lively,  interesting 
town,  and  a  nice  place  to  live  in  as  long  as  one  remains  inside  of  the 
fortifications. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Sulu  Islands  are  exceedingly  supersti 
tious.  They  are  naturally  afraid  of  anything  they  do  not  know  all 
about,  and  consequently  all  travelers  in  that  country  report  that  it 


A  NATIVE  WEDDING  21; 

is  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  photographs  of  them,  as  they  turn 
and  flee  whenever  the  camera  is  pointed  at  them.  They  think, 
according  to  some  of  the  travelers,  that  they  would  die  in  a  short 
time  if  photographed. 

A  NATIVE  WEDDING. 

Dean  C.  Worcester,  in  his  excellent  work  on  the  Philippine 
Islands,  describes  a  native  wedding,  which  is  exceedingly  interesting. 
He  says  : 

"  By  exercising  considerable  diplomacy  we  contrived  to  get 
admission.  We  were  shown  into  a  large,  poorly-lighted  room,  which 
had  a  good  floor  of  hewn  timber.  The  well-to-do  Moros  of  the  whole 
region  round  were  assembled.  Such  gaudy  costumes  we  had  never 
seen.  They  were  silk,  for  the  most  part,  and  the  pinks,  purples, 
scarlets,  blues  and  greens  were  simply  gorgeous.  At  one  side  of  the 
room  was  an  'orchestra.'  The  chief  musical  instrument  consisted  of 
a  wooden  frame  over  which  were  strung  cords  that  supported  nine 
small  kettledrums,  tuned  to  the  notes  of  the  scale.  A  woman,  kneel 
ing  before  this  affair,  beat  out  rude  airs  on  it  with  a  pair  of  sticks. 
Large  kettledrums  were  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  and  on  the  floor 
were  several  double-ended  wooden  drums  with  heads  of  python  skin. 

"  The  kettledrums  were  made  of  bell  metal,  and  the  combination 
of  sounds  produced  by  the  various  instruments  was  by  no  means 
unpleasant  at  first,  though  its  monotony  wearied  one  in  time. 

"  On  one  side  of  the  room  the  floor  was  strewn  with  mattresses 
and  cushions,  among  which  lounged  the  prospective  bridegroom  sur 
rounded  by  friends.  The  centre  of  the  floor  was  cleared  for  dancing  ; 
in  fact,  dancing  was  going  on  when  we  entered.  The  performers 
came  out  one  at  a  time,  and  their  movements  were  critically  watched 
and  freely  commented  on  by  the  spectators.  Moro  dancing  consists 
chiefly  of  contortions  of  the  body  above  the  waist,  and  movements  of 
the  arms,  wrists,  and  hands.  The  feet  are  used  comparatively  little. 

"Some  of  the  attitudes  assumed  by  the  dancers  were  very  grace 
ful  ;  others  were  decidedly  grotesque,  and  interesting  only  as  they 
showed  into  what  remarkable  shapes  human  forms  could  be  twisted. 
Tiny  children  executed  timid  steps,  and  an  old  woman,  white-haired, 
toothless,  and  nearly  bent  double,  took  her  turn  with  the  rest,  winning 

great  applause. 
'  12 


2i8  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

"  The  bride,  meanwhile,  was  in  a  small  side  room  making  her 
toilet.  We  inferred  from  the  sounds  we  heard  that  she  had  plenty  of 
help.  The  bridegroom  donned  his  costume  in  public,  putting  it  on 
over  the  handsome  Moro  suit  that  he  already  wore.  First  came  a 
pair  of  gauze  trousers  several  sizes  too  large,  then  a  shirt  of  similar 
material,  quite  too  small ;  next  his  companions  produced  a  skirt  of 
rich  silk,  into  which  he  climbed  with  great  difficulty.  He  evidently 
was  not  accustomed  to  skirts.  Finally  they  brought  out  two  long 
ribbons,  one  embroidered  with  gold  and  one  with  silver.  These  were 
so  arranged  that  they  crossed  on  his  back  and  breast  while  both 
encircled  his  waist.  The  costume  was  apparently  public  property, 
intended  for  use  on  such  occasions. 

"Two  panditas  now  came  in.  The  groom  squatted  on  the  floor 
and  the  panditas  squatted  before  him.  A  saucer  of  live  coals  was 
set  between  them,  and  incense  burned  in  it.  One  of  the  priests  took 
five  large  rings  and  put  them  on  the  fingers  and  thumb  of  the  groom's 
right  hand  ;  then,  holding  the  hand  in  a  peculiar  way  he  recited  a 
long  rigmarole,  which  was,  unfortunately,  lost  on  us.  At  its  end  the 
groom  and  his  friends  made  some  sudden  exclamation. 

**  The  other  pandita  now  began  to  sing,  very  softly  at  first,  then 
louder  and  louder.  At  this  signal  six  young  ladies,  whom  we  may 
as  well  call  bridesmaids,  entered  the  room  and  seated  themselves 
among  the  cushions  at  some  distance  from  the  groom.  One  of  them 
had  false  finger-nails  of  silver,  two  inches  long.  Their  faces  were 
painted  white  with  rich  paste.  Their  eyebrows  were  artificially 
broadened,  and  brought  together  between  the  eyes.  "  Beaucatchers,'' 
pasted  flat  to  their  cheeks,  ran  around  their  ears.  Their  front -hair 
was  banged,  and  their  back  hair — but  only  a  woman  could  describe 
that.  They  sat  clown  with  great  deliberation,  and,  with  one  excep 
tion,  kept  still  as  statues  until  the  ceremony  was  over. 

THE    ENTRANCE    OF    THE    BRIDE. 

"The  bride  entered,  but  people  crowded  around  her  so  that  we 
could  not  at  first  see  her.  She  was  dressed  like  her  maids,  but  rather 
more  elegantly.  She  took  position  near  the  groom,  turned  her  back 
on  him  in  a  very  pointed  manner,  and  sat  down.  He  and  his  friends 
now  rose,  formed  in  line,  and  made  a  slow  and  circuitous  pilgrimage 


OTHER  ISLANDS  OF  THE  ARCHIPELAGO  219 

to  where  she  was  sitting.  After  many  pauses  and  much  marking 
time  they  reached  their  destination,  and  the  groom  made  some 
advances  which  the  bride  promptly  repulsed.  He  then  sat  down  and 
gazed  disconsolately  at  her  back. 

"  The  crowd  extended  their  sympathy  to  him,  and  urged  the 
bride  to  relent,  but  she  refused.  One  of  the  bridesmaids  at  last  arose 
and  favored  the  audience  with  a  long  solo  which  we  could  not  well 
understand,  but  she  seemed  to  be  giving  the  groom  a  very  bad  repu 
tation.  She  finally  finished  and  resumed  her  place.  After  more 
entreaties  from  the  crowd  the  bride  arose,  turned  toward  the  groom, 
and  sat  down  again.  This  ended  the  ceremony,  but  when  we  went 
to  supper  the  newly  wedded  man  and  wife  were  still  sitting  there  and 
staring  stupidly  at  each  other." 

OTHER    ISLANDS    OF    THE    ARCHIPELAGO. 

The  island  of  SAMAR,  which  is  about  5,300  square  miles  in  area, 
has  as  its  capital  Catbalogan.  It  is  a  small  town,  much  more  clean 
than  most  of  these  towns  on  the  smaller  islands,  and  lies  on  the  north 
shore  of  a  picturesque  bay  on  the  west  coast.  There  are  several 
shops  in  the  town,  but  very  little  else  to  attract  one's  attention.  The 
main  business  of  the  place  is  dealing  in  abaca,  that  is,  buying,  curing, 
and  balling  it.  Plenty  of  fish  can  be  obtained  there,  but  poultry, 
eggs,  and  even  fruit  are  scarce,  and  very  expensive. 

The  island  itself  is  much  overgrown  with  vegetation,  and  is, 
practically,  a  series  of  jungles.  To  travel  there  means  to  run  the 
risk  of  scorpions  and  centipedes,  which  are  liable  to  give  one  much 
annoyance,  if  not  proving  even  more  serious.  There  are  ants,  too, 
in  extraordinary  quantities,  consequently  the  enjoyment  of  explora 
tion  in  Samar  is  limited.  All  through  the  hills  are  a  number  of  clear 
ings  made  by  natives  who  take  this  method  of  avoiding  the  payment 
of  taxes  or  escaping  from  the  oppression  of  priests  and  public 
officials.  Besides  its  large  crop  of  abaca,  the  island  also  produces 
quantities  of  valuable  timber.  Several  of  its  rivers  are  quite  large, 
but  the  mountains,  for  the  most  part,  are  low  and  unimportant.  The 
climate  is  favorable  and  fairly  healthful. 

PALAWAN  has  an  area  of  about  4,150  square  miles.  Its  chief 
city  is  Puerto  Princesa.  This  island  is  known  to  the  Spaniards  as 


220  OTHER  IMPORTANT  CITIES  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

Paraqua.  It  was  formerly  part  of  the  territory  of  the  Sultan  of 
Borneo.  The  northern  end  was  fortified  by  the  Spaniards  in  the 
eighteenth  century  in  order  to  protect  themselves  from  the  Moros. 
Same  years  afterward  the  Sultan  of  Borneo  gave  up  the  whole  island 
to  Spain,  and  another  garrison  was  established,  in  order  to  hold  it,  at 
Tay-Tay.  The  capital  of  the  island,  which  is  situated  on  the  bay,  is  a 
fairly  prosperous  place,  without  the  defences.  It  is  called  a  naval 
station  because  it  has  a  place  for  repairing  vessels,  and  two  gunboats 
are  usually  quartered  there.  It  is  a  very  unusual  thing  for  any 
vessels,  except  the  regular  mail  steamers,  to  touch  at  this  place,  so 
when  a  man  lands  there,  he  is  practically  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  until  the  next  steamer  is  due. 

Palawan  is  the  most  western  of  all  the  more  important  islands 
of  the  Philippine  group.  It  is  about  300  miles  long,  and  has  an 
average  breadth  of  about  twenty  miles.  It  is  well  watered  by  many 
streams,  and  has  a  high  range  of  mountains,  as  a  sort  of  backbone,  in 
the  interior.  It  is  rich  in  splendid  timber  lands,  which  contain  valu 
able  hard  woods,  such  as  ebony.  As  to  mineral  wealth  there  is  very 
little  known.  Puerto  Princesa  is,  perhaps,  better  known  as  a  penal 
settlement  than  anything  else.  Convicts  and  prisoners  are  sent  there 
from  other  places,  and  they  usually  settle  there  after  their  term  of 
imprisonment  expires,  as  they  have  no  money  to  pay  their  passage 
home.  The  natives  are  divided  into  three  classes.  The  Moros,  who 
are  the  most  warlike  of  the  inhabitants,  live  in  the  southern  part  ;  the 
Tagbanuas  live  along  the  northern  coast,  and  the  Battaks  live  in  the 
northern  mountain  regron.  The  Tagbanuas  are  the  most  peaceful  of 
the  residents.  All  through  the  island  there  are  plenty  of  large-sized 
pythons,  some  of  which  measure  twenty-three  or  twenty-four  feet  in 
length,  and  weigh  about  350  pounds. 

MINDORA  has  an  area  of  about  4,500  square  miles.  It  is  directly 
south  of  Manila  Bay.  Its  capital  is  Calapan,  and  the  whole  island  is 
very  much  avoided  by  all  white  men,  owing  to  its  deadly  fevers. 
There  was  a  time  when  it  was  very  prosperous  and  produced  large 
quantities  of  rice,  but  to-day  the  once  rich  fields  are  overgrown  with 
trees  and  shrubbery,  and  have  become  haunted  by  escaped  criminals, 
who  know  that  no  possible  inducement  could  persuade  the  Spanish  to 
follow  them.  The  island  is  chiefly  inhabited  by  a  tribe  called  Mang- 


A  POPULAR  STREET  CONVEYANCE. 

As  elsewhere,  carriages  and  street  cars  are  used  in  Manila,  but  there  are  hundreds  of  the  above  "  native  cabs,"  for  carrying 
single  persons  short  distances,  and  they  are  liberally  patronized. 


DRYING  SUGAR. 

Large  pans  containing  the  sugar  are  set  in  the  sun  to  evaporate  the  moisture.     No  refining  or  clarifying  machinery  has 

been  introduced  into  the  Philippine  Islands. 


OTHER  ISLANDS  OF  THE  ARCHIPELAGO  223 

yans,  who  have  a  very  bad  reputation  ;  but,  according  to  more  recent 
travelers,  this  is  undeserved.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  friendly 
natives. 

NEGROS  is  nearby  Cebu,  and  has  an  area  of  2,300  square  miles. 
Its  capital  is  Dumaguete,  a  much  better  class  of  town  than  one 
usually  finds.  The  Chinese  are  the  merchants  of  the  place,  and  the 
population  is  made  up  almost  entirely  of  natives  of  the  island.  In 
this  town  are  public  buildings  of  unusual  size,  together  with  a  church 
and  convent.  On  the  island  is  an  active  volcano  called  Malaspina  or 
Canlooan,  which  is  over  8,000  feet  high.  This  is,  probably,  the  rich 
est  island  of  its  size  in  the  archipelago,  and  much  of  the  land  near 
the  coast  is  cultivated.  Its  chief  product  is  sugar,  although  there  is 
some  fine  tobacco  in  the  Escalante  region.  So  great  is  the  sugar 
crop  that  a  number  of  modern  sugar  mills  have  been  established 
upon  the  larger  estates. 

CEBU  contains  about  1,650  square  miles.  It  has  a  capital  of  the 
same  name,  which  has  already  been  spoken  of.  MASBATE  is  another 
island  of  importance,  with  an  area  of  1,315  square  miles.  The  chief 
town  is  Palanog,  which  is  built  on  high  ground  quite  near  the  bay. 
It  is  very  small,  and  the  only  buildings  of  importance  are  the  church 
and  the  schoolhouse.  The  natives  of  the  island  are,  for  the  most 
part,  quite  civilized.  Rice  is  raised  in  parts  of  the  island,  and  live 
stock  forms  the  chief  industry.  BOHOL,  the  next  island  in  size,  has 
an  area  of  925  square  miles.  CATANDUANES  has  an  area  of  450 
square  miles,  and  there,  are  a  dozen  or  more  islands  which  vary  in 
size  from  100  to  250  square  miles. 

Little  is  known  of  these  smaller  places,  and,  indeed,  the  whole 
series  of  islands  in  the  archipelago  offer  a  fruitful  field  to  the 
explorer.  They  will  probably  be  of  little  use  to  Uncle  Sam,  and 
may  be  a  source  of  great  annoyance,  inasmuch  as  the  natives  on  many 
of  them  are  still  followers  of  piratical  leaders,  and  given  to  taking 
the  law  in  their  own  hands. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

The  Future  of  the  Islands 

How  they  will  Develop  tinder  the  Care  of  the  United  States. — The  Treaty  of  Peac* 
at  Paris  and  its  Effect. — What  President  McKinley  says  about  the  Situation. 
— Extracts  from  his  Famous  Speeches  on  the  Subject. — Views  of  Anti-Expansion 
ists. — Extracts  from  Speeches  made  by  Senators  and  others. — Freedom  and 
Prosperity  in  Sight  for  the  Long  Misgoverned  Islands. 

SUCH  are  the  islands  of  the  past  and  present,  but  what  of  the 
future  ?  The  wings  of  peace,  hovering  over  the  two  battling 
nations,  brought  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  war  was  over, 
practically,  and  there  lay  before  both  Spain  and  America  the  task  of 
formally  agreeing  to  terms  of  peace  and  the  adoption  of  a  peace 
treaty.  The  President  appointed  a  commission  consisting  of  Ex- 
Secretary  of  State  W.  R.  Day,  Senator  Cushman  K.  Davis,  Senator 
George  E.  Gray,  Senator  William  P.  Frye,  and  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid 
to  go  to  Paris  and  meet  a  similar  body  appointed  to  represent  Spain 
in  the  negotiations.  There  was  a  long  struggle  between  the  two 
before  any  agreement  could  be  reached ;  but  finally,  after  two  months 
of  debate,  a  treaty  embracing  seventeen  articles  was  signed  by  the 
representatives  of  both  countries. 

TERMS  OF  THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  treaty  Spain  agreed  to  renounce  all  sov 
ereignty  over  Cuba,  and  when  the  island  was  evacuated  it  should  be 
occupied  temporarily  by  the  United  States  until  a  stable  government 
could  be  established  by  the  Cubans.  Spain  ceded  to  the  United  States 
Porto  Rico  and  her  other  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  Isle  of 
Guam,  in  the  Ladrones,  and,  most  important  of  all,  the  whole  of  the 
Philippines,  the  United  States  agreeing  to  pay  $20,000,000  within 
three  months  after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty.  Spanish  ships  are  to 
be  admitted  to  the  ports  of  the  Archipelago  under  the  same  conditions 
as  ships  from  the  United  States  during  a  term  of  ten  years.  All 

225 


226  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

prisoners  of  war  are  to  be  liberated  under  the  treaty.  Both  coun 
tries  renounce  all  claims  for  national  or  private  indemnity  resulting 
from  the  war. 

These,  in  a  nutshell,  are  the  main  terms  of  the  treaty.  The 
greatest  stumbling  block  to  the  agreement  of  the  commissioners  was 
the  disposal  of  the  Philippines.  Spain  gave  them  up  with  the  great 
est  reluctance,  and  for  a  time  it  looked  as  though,  on  account  of  the 
islands,  all  of  the  negotiations  would  come  to  naught  and  that  hos 
tilities  would  again  be  resumed.  And  not  only  was  this  question  of  the 
possession  of  the  Philippines  warmly  debated  by  these  commissioners. 
Immediately  people  of  prominence  in  the  United  States  arrayed  them 
selves  on  one  side  or  the  other  as  to  the  advisability  of  our  keeping  the 
islands.  Every  speech  by  the  leaders  of  politics  for  months  rang 
with  sentiments  bearing  upon  this  important  national  issue,  the  most 
important  that  has  faced  the  country  for  many  years.  Arguments  of 
expansionists  clashed  with  those  of  the  anti-expansionists.  The  ad 
ministration  and  its  closest  allies  favored  expansion,  and  most  of  the 
prominent  Republicans  of  the  country  espoused  this  side  of  the  cause. 
The  Democrats  for  the  most  part  were  against  expansion,  led  by  Ex- 
President  Grover  Cleveland  and  William  J.  Bryan. 

There  was  a  warm  debate  over  the  treaty  in  the  Senate,  and  just 
as  its  passage  seemed  to  be  in  jeopardy  news  came  from  Manila  of  the 
savage  attack  of  the  insurgents,  led  by  Aguinaldo,  upon  the  Ameri 
can  troops,  and  the  fierce  fighting  that  followed  turned  the  tide  of 
feeling.  The  next  day  the  treaty  of  peace  was  ratified,  and  the 
Philippines  became  ours  by  the  double  right  of  conquest  and 
purchase. 

But  the  great  question  of  the  future  of  these  beautiful  and 
rich  islands  remains  unsolved.  The  treaty  of  peace  leaves  the  matter 
of  their  government  to  be  regulated  later,  and  the  great  issue  of  the 
coming  presidential  campaign  will  probably  swing  around  this  pivot. 
The  ablest  minds  of  our  nation  seem  to  differ  on  the  question  of 
territorial  expansion.  Their  arguments  are  interesting.  Without 
comment  pro  or  con  the  opinions  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
the  day  on  this  question  are  given  herewith.  These  opinions  are 
chosen  with  a  view  to  giving  the  ablest  representatives  both  for  and 
against  expansion. 


PRESIDENT  McKINLEY'S  VIEWS  227 

President  McKinley  gave  his  views  on  this  vital  question  in  a 
speech  made  at  the  Atlanta  Peace  Jubilee.  He  said  : 

"The  flag  has  been  planted  in  two  hemispheres,  and  there  it 
remains,  the  symbol  of  liberty  and  law,  of  peace  and  progress.  Who 
will  withdraw  from  the  people  over  whom  it  floats  its  protecting 
folds?  Who  will  haul  it  down  ? 

I  "  The  peace  we  have  won  is  not  a  selfish  truce  of  arms,  but  one 
whose  conditions  presage  good  to  humanity.  The  domain  secured 
under  the  treaty  yet  to  be  acted  upon  by  the  Senate  came  to  us  not 
as  the  result  of  a  crusade  of  conquest,  but  as  the  reward  of  temperate, 
faithful,  and  fearless  response  to  the  call  of  conscience  which  could 
not  be  disregarded  by  a  liberty-loving  and  Christian  people. 

"  We  have  so  borne  ourselves  in  the  conflict  and  in  our  inter 
course  with  the  powers  of  the  world  as  to  escape  complaint  or  com 
plication,  and  give  universal  confidence  of  our  high  purpose  and 
unselfish  sacrifices  for  struggling  peoples. 

"The  task  is  not  fulfilled.  Indeed,  it  is  only  just  begun.  The 
most  serious  work  is  still  before  us,  and  energy  of  heart  and  mind 
must  be  bent,  and  the  impulses  of  partisanship  subordinated  to  its 
faithful  execution.  This  is  the  time  for  earnest,  not  faint,  hearts. 

"  New  occasions  teach  new  duties.  To  this  nation  and  every 
nation  there  come  formative  periods  in  its  life  and  history.  New 
conditions  can  be  met  only  by  new  methods.  Meeting  these  condi 
tions  hopefully  and  facing  them  bravely  and  wisely  is  to  be  the  might 
iest  test  of  American  virtue  and  capacity.  Without  abandoning  past 
limitations,  traditions  and  principles,  but  by  meeting  present  oppor 
tunities  and  obligations  we  shall  show  ourselves  worthy  of  the  great 
trust  which  civilization  has  imposed  upon  us. 

|  "  At  Bunker  Hill  liberty  was  at  stake  ;  at  Gettysburg  the  Union 
was  the  issue  ;  before  Manila  and  Santiago  our  armies  fought,  not  for 
gain  or  revenge,  but  for  human  rights.  They  contended  for  the 
freedom  of  the  oppressed,  for  whose  welfare  the  United  States  has 
never  failed  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  establish  and  uphold,  and  I 
believe  never  will. 

"  The  glories  of  the  war  cannot  be  dimmed,  but  the  result  will 
be  incomplete  and  unworthy  of  us  unless  supplemented  by  civil  vic 
tories  harder,  possibly,  to  win,  in  their  way  no  less  indispensable. 


228  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

"  We  will  have  our  difficulties  and  embarrassments.  They  follow 
all  victories  and  accompany  all  great  responsibilities.  They  are  in- 
separable  from  every  great  movement  or  reform.  But  American 
capacity  has  triumphed  over  all  in  the  past.  Doubts  have  in  the  end 
vanished. 

"Thus  far  we  have  done  our  supreme  duty.  Shall  we  now, 
when  the  victory  won  in  war  is  written  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  the 
civilized  world  applauds  and  waits  in  expectation,  turn  timidly  away 
from  the  duties  imposed  upon  the  country  by  its  own  great  deeds  ? 
And  when  the  mists  fade,  and  we  see  with  clearer  vision,  may  we  not 
go  forth  rejoicing  in  a  strength  which  has  been  employed  solely  for 
humanity  and  always  been  tempered  with  justice  and  mercy,  confident 
of  our  ability  to  meet  the  exigencies  which  await,  because  confident 
that  our  course  is  one  of  duty  and  our  cause  that  of  right." 

POSTMASTER    GENERAL    SMITH'S    VIEWS. 

One  of  the  most  vigorous  orations  in  behalf  of  the  new  policy 
was  made  by  the  Postmast-Gereneral,  Charles  Emory  Smith,  at 
Omaha,  during  the  Exposition.  He  said  : 

"This  war  has  opened  a  new  career,  and  we  joyfully  turn  from 
its  thrilling  drama  to  the  grandeur  of  the  peaceful  mission  which  it 
ushers  in.  We  turn  to  the  contemplation  of  peace  and  its  duties  with 
the  consciousness  of  a  new  position  and  a  new  power.  We  have 
stepped  out  on  the  broad  stage  of  the  world's  action  ;  we  have 
advanced  from  continental  dominion  to  world  influence;  we  have 
moved  out  of  the  isolation  of  a  great  but  still  limited  and  self-circum 
scribed  sphere  into  the  large  arena  of  the  world's  activities  ;  and  if  in 
this  departure  there  are  the  risks  and  possibilities  which  attend  all 
human  progressive  enterprise  there  are  also  necessities  and  obliga 
tions  from  which  we  cannot  shrink  and  opportunities  and  glories 
which  beckon  us  onward. 

u  The  world's  acknowledged  tribute  is  the  measure  of  its  estimate 
of  the  potency  of  our  new  position.  Our  use  of  that  position  will  be 
the  measure  of  our  wisdom  and  rulership.  Equal  to  every  crisis  in 
the  past,  we  shall  deal  with  this  new  emergency  in  the  true  American 
spirit.  It  makes  us  responsible  for  Cuba.  It  gives  us  Porto  Rico. 
It  plants  our  outposts  on  the  farther  side  of  the  globe.  Whatever  we 


POSTMASTER-GENERAL  SMITH'S  VIEWS  229 

hold,  whether  it  be  more  or  less,  will  be  held  not  for  territorial  aggran 
dizement,  but  solely  in  acceptance  of  responsibilities  which  Provi 
dence  has  laid  upon  us. 

"Men  lightly  talk  of  'imperialism.'  Our  imperialism  is  not  ter 
ritorial  lust,  but  benignant  trade  expansion  and  civilizing  influence, 
and  our  flag  is  at  Manila,  not  in  a  spirit  of  spoliation,  not  in  either 
the  greed  or  the  glory  of  conquest,  but,  let  it  be  reverently  said, 
under  the  controlling  force  of  a  providential  guidance,  at  the  ripe  hour 
in  the  development  and  requirements  of  our  national  growth. 

"  For  the  coincidences  are  clear  and  unmistakable.  This  has 
come  just  at  the  time  when  we  needed  broader  commercial  scope  and 
new  outlets.  It  came  just  at  the  time  when  all  the  great  powers  are 
engaging  in  a  keen,  vigilant  and  aggressive  rivalry  of  trade  opportu 
nity  and  extension.  It  came  just  at  the  time  when  the  ancient  and 
colossal  empire  of  China,  with  a  quarter  of  the  world's  population,  is 
opening  her  doors.  It  came  just  at  the  time  when  we  were  turning 
our  longing  eyes  across  the  Pacific  for  a  share  of  the  trade  and  when 
we  needed  a  base  of  commercial  enterprise  in  the  Orient.  And  the 
thunder  of  our  cannon  at  Manila,  under  the  sudden  uplifting  of  a 
veil  which  no  vision  could  have  penetrated,  gave  us  in  a  day  the  pres 
tige,  the  position  and  the  opportunity  which  years  of  ordinary  history 
and  endeavor  would  never  have  brought. 

"  It  is  treated  in  many  quarters  simply  as  a  question  of  territorial 
expansion,  but  that  is  a  secondary  and  incidental  consideration.  The 
great  and  overshadowing  question  is  one  of  commercial  openings. 
The  heart  of  the  issue  is  not  mere  territory,  but  trade  necessities  and 
facilities.  Beyond  and  behind  and  beneath  this  departure  lies  the 
broad  problem  of  America's  destiny  in  the  commerce  and  civilization 
of  the  world. 

"  Others  speak,  and  rightly  speak,  of  what  is  clue  to  those  dark 
ened  people  to  whom  our  starry  flag  has  brought  the  radiant  sunshine 
of  hope  and  life.  Let  me  suggest  what  is  due  to  ourselves  and  our 
future  in  the  steady  march  of  our  development  ?  Our  growth  has 
been  so  marvelous  that  we  need  new  opportunities ;  and  our  fate  is 
so  happy  that  the  opportunities  are  here  for  our  taking. 

"  The  imperial  Louisiana  acquisition,  in  the  heart  of  which  we 
now  stand,  and  which  has  become  the  seat  of  twelve  mighty  States 


230  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

and  fifteen  millions  of  happy  people,  was  dictated  by  the  demand  for 
the  commercial  outlet  of  the  Mississippi;  and  under  the  stress  of  that 
necessity  Thomas  Jefferson  broke  away  from  old  ideas  and  rose  to  a 
larger  statesmanship.  Our  need  to-day,  like  that  of  a  hundred  years 
ago,  is  for  commercial  outlets,  and  it  is  for  the  descendants  of  our 
fathers  to  rise  to  our  occasion  and  duty  as  our  fathers  rose  to  theirs. 

"  Our  past  policy  has  established  our  industrial  independence.  It 
has  enabled  us  to  outstrip  all  other  nations,  and  has  endowed  us  with 
a  present  attainment  and  a  potential  force  which  almost  baffle  the 
imagination.  We  are  immeasurably  the  greatest  consumers  among 
men,  but  our  productive  capacity  has  grown  beyond  our  wants,  and 
now  looks  to  the  markets  of  the  world.  We  make  one-half  as  much 
iron  and  steel,  the  basic  fabrics  of  civilization,  as  all  other  countries 
put  together.  We  produce  one-half  as  much  coal.  We  use  one-half 
as  much  wool.  Our  motive  power,  our  railroad  operations,  our  gen 
eral  business  are  in  the  same  or  greater  ratio.  The  savings  out  of 
our  earnings  in  the  last  thirty  years  amounted  to  one-sixth  of  all  that 
the  world  has  saved  and  handed  down  since  the  dawn  of  the  Christian 
era.  We  are  the  only  great  commercial  nation  which  sells  more  than 
it  buys.  We  are  the  only  nation  which  is  absolutely  independent, 
untrammeled  and  self-supporting  within  itself.  While  we  were  grow 
ing  up  we  sent  abroad  food  and  brought  home  equipment.  But  now 
that  our  American  policy  has  realized  its  ultimate  aim  and  its  full 
fruition  in  our  unchallenged  industrial  supremacy  we  are  sending  not 
only  the  products  of  our  farms,  but  the  products  of  our  forges  and 
factories. 

"We  place  our  pipes  in  the  streets  of  London;  we  land  our 
tubing  at  Singapore ;  we  sell  our  paper  in  Japan  ;  we  send  our 
machinery  all  over  the  world.  The  hour  when  our  manufactured 
exports  passed  our  manufactured  imports  marked  the  turning  point 
of  commercial  mastery  and  opened  new  vistas  before  us.  Having 
gained  the  undisputed  control  of  our  vast  domestic  market,  we  boldly 
enter  into  the  world's  trade  competition. 

"  Yet,  with  all  this  achievement,  we  have  in  many  fields  but  just 
begun  the  development  of  our  enormous  resources.  We  grow  seven- 
eighths  of  the  world's  cotton,  but  we  manufacture  only  a  fourth  of  it. 
We  consume  more  of  some  leading  products  of  the  tropics  than  all 


BRIDGE  OVER  THE   PASIG   RIVER. 

This  bridge  connects  the  old  walled  city  on  one  side  of  the  river  with  the  new  unwalled  city  on  the  other.     Sea-going  vessels 

ascend  the  river  as  far  as  the  bridge. 


A  WEDDING   PROCESSION. 

As  in  Asiatic  countries,  weddings  in  the  Philippines  are  occasions  of  great  ceremony.     This  engraving  shows  a  wedding 

procession  in  the  Philippine  Islands  as  photographed  by  an  enterprising  American.     The  bride  and  groom  are 

inside  the  chairs  born  on  the  shoulders  of  the  men. 


POSTMASTER-GENERAL  SMITH'S  VIEWS  233 

other  nations ;  but  we  have  had  no  proportionate  share  of  their  trade. 
While  the  amazing  multiplication  of  our  productive  capacity,  there  is 
no  limit  to  our  possible  development  but  the  world's  needs.  In 
twenty-five  years  we  shall  be  a  nation  of  a  hundred  millions,  equalling 
all  Europe  in  energy  of  creation,  and  to  contemplate  the  dazzling 
splendor  of  that  beneficent  destiny,  if  only  the  growth  of  the  past 
twenty-five  years  shall  be  maintained,  seems  like  the  rhapsody  of  a 
dream. 

"If  we  are  to  fulfill  that  destiny  we  must  have  commercial 
expansion ;  and  it  is  a  profoundly  significant  fact  which  shows  a  guid 
ing  hand  that  overrules  the  will  of  man  that  this  war  should  have 
come  just  as  this  great  necessity  begins  to  be  realized.  This  oppor 
tunity  matches  the  need.  The  elevation  of  the  United  States  to  a 
new  rank  among  the  nations  ;  the  universal  acceptance  of  its  obliga 
tion  to  stretch  forth  its  civilizing  hand  where  the  fate  of  war  has  car 
ried  it ;  the  fortunate  possession  of  an  established  emporium  on  the 
very  theatre  of  the  world's  seeking  have  brought  the  occasion  and 
the  duty  together.  Is  it  not  for  enlightened  American  statesmanship, 
watchful  of  American  interests,  to  use  the  opportunity,  not  in  terri 
torial  avarice,  but  for  commercial  extension  and  civilizing  influence  in 
the  Orient  with  the  base  and  the  bulwark  that  are  needed  for  its 
support  ? 

"  Trade  follows  the  flag.  Around  the  waters  of  the  Orient  dwell 
more  than  a  quarter  of  the  human  race.  Among  these  ancient  peo 
ples  there  is  agitation  and  awakening.  The  old  walls  of  isolation 
and  seclusion  will  be  broken  down,  and  in  throwing  off  the  thraldom 
of  ancient  prescription  and  primitive  life,  there  will  be  the  invitation 
and  the  inroad  of  civilizing  instruments  and  influences.  We  shall 
enter  into  no  struggle  of  imperial  division  ;  but  why  should  we  not 
share  the  opening  traffic  of  that  vast  region  ?  Why  should  not  our 
mills  use  our  own  cotton,  now  sent  abroad,  and  multiply  our  spindles 
in  clothing  China  ?  Why  should  we  not  furnish  her  electric  power 
and  materials  ?  Why  should  we  not  join  in  laying  the  rails  of  the 
new  lines  of  communication  that  are  to  set  her  sluggish  life  in  motion? 
Why  should  we  not  find  in  the  requirements  of  a  vast  people,  arous 
ing  from  their  ages  of  torpor,  one  of  the  openings  that  are  needed 
for  our  surplus  manufactures  ? 


234  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

"  The  Pacific  is  rightfully  within  our  commercial  sphere.  We 
hold  one  shore,  and  we  are  nearest  the  other.  Europe  must  cross 
two  oceans  to  the  Orient,  and  we  but  one.  Why  should  we  not 
peacefully  and  providently  avail  ourselves  of  the  commercial  advan 
tages  within  our  grasp?  We  have,  besides,  learned  the  value  and  the 
needs  of  a  navy.  Dewey,  respecting  the  neutrality  of  Hong  Kong, 
had  nowhere  on  the  broad  Pacific  to  rest  his  foot  save  on  his  own 
deck,  and  under  the  signal  from  Washington  he  steamed  straight  to 
Manila,  defiant  of  mine  and  of  fort,  because  the  Spanish  fleet  was 
there,  and  because  he  needed  and  proposed  to  make  an  American 
harbor !  And  we  have  come  to  understand  that  under  modern  neces 
sities  our  Olympias  and  Oregons  and  our  commercial  fleets  bearing 
our  flag  over  the  world  must  have  harbors  where  they  can  ride  in 
safety  in  their  own  unchallenged  right. 

"And  so,  as  we  move  forward  to  the  new  duties  before  us,  let  us 
try  to  realize  the  majesty  of  our  position  and  the  grandeur  of  our 
destiny.  Picture  the  strength  and  the  promise  of  the  commanding 
place  our  mighty  Republic  now  holds  in  the  realms  of  nations.  A 
continental  domain  washed  by  the  two  great  oceans  ;  midway  and 
overarching  the  Orient  and  Occident,  and  impregnable  because  but 
tressed  by  the  seas ;  the  home  of  the  only  civilized  people  on  earth 
who  are  economically  independent  and  self-sustaining  and  boundless 
in  their  resources  ;  along  the  granary  and  now  fast  becoming  the 
workshop  of  the  world  ;  gaining  in  its  new  acquisitions  the  gates  of 
the  Caribbean,  the  mastery  of  the  Isthmus  and  the  key  of  Asia, 
embracing  within  its  own  wide  territory,  as  no  other  nation  does,  the 
varied  and  exchangeable  products  of  the  temperate  and  tropic  zones, 
and  all  the  necessities  of  complete  and  self-centered  national  exist 
ence  ;  and  thus  fronting  the  coming  time  of  world-wide  rivalry  with 
a  rounded  development  beyond  any  other  nation,  with  the  new  need 
of  commercial  extension  which  springs  from  those  unlimited  capabili 
ties,  and  with  the  stepping-stones  and  facilities  brought  within  our 
possession  by  providential  events  which  the  imagination  had  not 
dreamed  six  months  ago.  Surely,  as  we  contemplate  this  vision,  we 
can  justly  feel  that  the  mistress  of  the  future  is  the  noble  figure  of 
the  Republic,  whose  torch  of  liberty,  enlightening  the  world,  is  no 
less  the  beacon  of  commerce  and  humanity." 


PEACE  COMMISSIONER  REID'S  VIEWS  23$ 

Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid,  of  New  York,  just  before  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  Peace  Commissioners,  said  in  an  article  in  the  Century 
Magazine  : 

"  The  question  of  the  Philippines  is  different  and  difficult.  They 
are  not  within  what  the  diplomatists  of  the  world  would  recognize  as 
the  legitimate  sphere  of  American  influence.  Our  relation  to  them 
is  purely  the  accident  of  recent  war.  We  are  not  in  honor  bound  to 
hold  them,  if  we  can  honorably  dispose  of  them.  But  we  know  that 
their  grievances  differ  only  in  kind,  not  in  degree,  from  those  of  Cuba  ; 
and  having  once  freed  them  from  the  Spanish  yoke  we  cannot  honor 
ably  require  them  to  go  back  under  it  again.  That  would  be  to  put 
us  in  an  attitude  of  nauseating  national  hypocrisy,  to  give  the  lie  to 
all  our  professions  of  humanity  in  our  interference  in  Cuba,  and  to 
prove  that  our  real  motive  was  conquest.  What  humanity  forbade 
us  to  tolerate  in  the  West  Indies  it  would  not  justify  us  in  re-estab 
lishing  in  the  Philippines. 

"  The  chief  aversion  to  the  vast  accessions  of  territory  with 
which  we  are  threatened  springs  from  the  fact  that  ultimately  they 
must  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  States.  No  public  duty  is  more 
urgent  at  this  moment  than  to  resist  from  the  very  outset  the  conces 
sion  of  such  a  possibility.  In  no  circumstances  likely  to  exist  within 
a  century,  should  they  be  admitted  as  States  of  the  Union. 

"  With  slight  modifications,  the  territorial  form  of  government 
which  we  have  tried  so  successfully  from  the  beginning  of  the  Union, 
is  admirably  adapted  to  such  communities.  It  secures  local  self- 
government,  equality  before  the  law,  upright  courts,  ample  power 
for  order  and  defence,  a  voice  in  Congress  for  the  presentation 
of  local  wants  and  such  control  by  Congress  as  gives  security 
against  the  mistakes  or  excesses  of  people  new  to  the  exercise  of 
rights. 

"The  power  of  the  government  to  deal  with  territory,  foreign 
or  domestic,  precisely  as  it  chooses,  was  understood  from  the  begin 
ning  to  be  absolute,  and  at  no  stage  in  our  whole  history  have  we 
hesitated  to  exercise  it.  The  question  of  permanently  holding  the 
Philippines  or  any  other  conquered  territory  as  territory  is  not  and 
cannot  be  made  one  of  constitutional  right ;  it  is  one  solely  of 
national  duty  and  of  national  policy." 


236  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

One  of  the  most  striking  speeches  made  in  the  United  States 
Senate  during  the  debate  on  the  treaty,  was  that  of  Senator  Lodge, 
of  Massachusetts.  He  said  : 

"In  connection  with  these  resolutions  and  others  which  have 
been  introduced,  two  questions  have  been  raised,  one  of  Constitutional 
law  and  one  of  public  policy.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  at  length 
into  the  former  discussion.  The  Constitutional  questions  are  many, 
and  the  hypothetical  situations  which  have  been  imagined  with  much 
ingenuity  as  tests  of  the  Constitution,  are  almost  countless.  It  is  an 
inviting  field,  rich  in  casuistry  and  subtle  distinctions,  but  I  do  not 
think  that  I  could  add  much  to  the  sum  of  human  information  or 
misinformation  by  attempting  its  elaborate  cultivation. 

"  My  own  views  as  to  our  Constitutional  rights  and  powers  are 
simple  and  well  defined,  and  have  not  been  formed  without  some 
study,  both  of  our  Constitution  and  our  history.  I  shall  content 
myself  with  stating  them.  I  believe  that  the  United  States  has  the 
undoubted  power,  which  it  has  frequently  exercised  to  acquire  terri 
tory,  and  to  hold  and  govern  it.  I  am  ready  to  admit,  if  necessary, 
that  action  in  these  directions  must  be  taken  for  Constitutional  pur 
poses,  but  the  constitutionality  of  the  purposes  must  be  determined 
by  Congress  itself  through  its  majority.  I  believe  that  the  power  of 
the  United  States  in  any  territory  or  possession  outside  the  limits  of 
the  States  themselves  is  absolute,  with  the  single  exception  of  the 
limitation  placed  on  such  outside  possessions  by  the  XIII  Amend 
ment.  Such,  at  all  events,  has  been  the  policy  of  the  United  States 
and  its  course  of  action  in  practice. 

"  Constitutions  do  not  make  a  people ;  people  make  consti 
tutions.  Our  Constitution  is  great  and  admirable,  because  the  men 
who  made  it  were  so,  and  the  people  who  ratified  it  and  have  lived 
under  it  were  and  are  brave,  intelligent  and  lovers  of  liberty.  There 
is  a  higher  sanction  and  a  surer  protection  to  life  and  liberty,  to  the 
right  of  speech  and  trial  by  jury,  to  justice  and  humanity,  in  the 
traditions  and  beliefs,  the  habits  of  mind,  and  the  character  of  the 
American  people  than  any  which  can  be  afforded  by  any  constitution, 
no  matter  how  wisely  drawn.  If  the  American  people  were  disposed 
to  tyranny,  injustice  and  oppression,  a  constitution  would  offer  but  a 
temporary  barrier  to  their  ambition  and  the  reverence  for  the  con- 


SENATOR  LODGE'S  ARGUMENTS  237 

stitution  and  for  law  and  justice  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  the 
American  people  believe  in  freedom  and  humanity,  in  equal  justice 
to  all  men,  and  in  equal  rights  before  the  law,  and  while  they  so 
believe  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
of  the  Constitution  will  never  be  in  peril. 

"  Holding  these  views  as  to  our  Constitutional  powers,  the  great 
question  now  before  the  American  people  resolves  itself,  in  my  mind, 
to  one  policy,  surely. 

"  In  our  war  with  Spain  we  conquered  the  Philippines,  or,  to  put 
it  more  exactly,  we  destroyed  the  power  of  Spain  in  those  islands  and 
took  possession  of  their  capital.  The  treaty  cedes  the  Philippines 
to  us.  It  is  wisely  and  skilfully  drawn.  It  commits  us  to  no  policy, 
to  no  course  of  action  whatever  in  regard  to  the  Philippines.  When 
that  treaty  is  ratified  we  have  full  power,  and  are  absolutely  free 
to  do  with  those  islands  as  we  please  ;  and  the  opposition  to  its 
ratification  may  be  summed  up  in  a  single  sentence,  that  the  Ameri 
can  people  and  the  American  Congress  are  not  to  be  trusted  with 
that  power  and  with  that  freedom  of  action  in  regard  to  the  inhabit 
ants  of  those  distant  islands. 

"  What  our  precise  policy  shall  be  I  do  not  know,  because  I  for 
one  am  not  sufficiently  informed  as  to  the  conditions  there  to  be  able 
to  say  what  it  will  be  best  to  do  ;  nor,  I  may  add,  do  I  think  any  one 
is.  But  I  believe  that  we  shall  have  the  wisdom  not  to  attempt  to 
incorporate  those  islands  with  our  body  politic,  or  make  their  inhabit 
ants  part  of  our  citizenship,  or  set  their  laborers  alongside  of  ours 
and  within  our  tariff  to  compete  in  any  industry  with  American 
workmen. 

"  I  believe  that  we  shall  have  the  courage  not  to  depart  from 
those  islands  fearfully,  timidly  and  unworthily,  and  leave  them  to 
anarchy  among  themselves,  to  the  brief  and  bloody  domination  of 
some  self-constituted  dictator  and  to  the  quick  conquest  of  other 
powers,  who  will  have  no  such  hesitation  as  we  would  feel  in  crushing 
them  into  subjection  by  harsh  and  repressive  methods.  It  is  for  us 
to  decide  the  destiny  of  the  Philippines,  not  for  Europe,  and  we  can 
do  it  alone  and  without  assistance.  I  believe  that  we  shall  have  the 
wisdom,  the  self-restraint  and  the  ability  to  restore  peace  and  order 
in  those  islands  and  give  to  their  people  an  opportunity  for  self-gov- 


238  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

ernment  and  for  freedom  under  the  protecting  shield  of  the  United 
States  until  the  time  shall  come  when  they  are  able  to  stand  alone,  if 
such  a  thing  be  possible,  and  if  they  do  not  themselves  desire  to 
remain  under  our  protection. 

"To  the  American  people  and  their  Government  I  am  ready  to 
intrust  my  life,  my  liberty,  my  honor  ;  and,  what  is  far  dearer  to  me 
than  anything  personal  to  myself,  the  lives  and  liberty  of  my  children 
and  my  children's  children.  If  I  am  ready  thus  to  trust  my  children 
to  the  Government  which  the  American  people  create  and  sustain, 
am  I  to  shrink  from  intrusting  to  that  same  people  the  fate  and  for 
tunes  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Philippine  Islands  ? 

"  I  can  look  at  this  question  in  only  one  way.  A  great  respon 
sibility  has  come  to  us.  If  we  are  unfit  for  it  and  unequal  to  it,  then 
we  should  shirk  it  and  fly  from  it.  But  I  believe  that  we  are  both  fit 
and  capable,  and  that  therefore  we  should  meet  it  and  take  it  up. 
There  is  much  else  involved  here,  vast  commercial  interests  which  I 
believe  we  have  a  right  to  guard  and  a  duty  to  foster.  " 

SENATOR  TLATT'S  ARGUMENTS. 

During  the  debate  on  the  Peace  Treaty,  the  following  was  part 
of  the  notable  speech  made  by  Senator  Platt,  of  Connecticut : 

"  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  policy  of  expansion,"  said  Mr, 
Platt  in  the  preface  to  his  argument.  "  I  do  not  propose  either  to 
discuss  the  features  of  the  government  we  might  establish  in  any 
foreign  territory  we  might  acquire.  Expansion  has  been  a  law  of  our 
national  growth,  the  mainspring  of  our  national  development.  I 
shall  maintain  that  the  United  States  has  shown  a  great  capacity  for 
government  in  all  trying  times  and  under  many  trying  conditions, 
and  that  it  is  capable  to  meet  any  emergency  likely  to  arise. 

"  I  shall  contend  that  the  United  States  is  a  nation,  and  that  as 
such  it  possesses  every  sovereign  power  not  reserved  by  the  Consti 
tution  to  the  States  or  to  the  people  themselves  ;  that  the  right  to 
acquire  territory  was  not  reserved,  and  that,  therefore,  that  right  is  an 
inherent  right — a  sovereign  right,  a  right  to  which  there  is  no  limita 
tion.  I  shall  show,  also,  that  in  certain  instances  this  inherent  sov 
ereign  right  is  to  be  inferred  from  specific  clauses  of  the  Constitution 
itself." 


SENATOR  CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW'S  POSITION  239 

Mr.  Platt  then  made  a  constitutional  argument,  quoting  exten 
sively  from  authorities  treating  of  the  question.  In  maintenance  of 
his  position  of  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  acquire  foreign  terri 
tory  he  quoted  from  the  opinion  of  Justice  Gray  in  the  Chinese 
exclusion  case.  Me  declared  that,  in  the  discussion  of  the  annexa 
tion  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  the  entire  question  of  this  Govern 
ment's  right  to  acquire  foreign  territory  was  considered  thoroughly, 
and  that  the  Senate  had  settled  it  satisfactorily  and  rightly.  "We 
did  not  annex  the  Hawaiian  Islands  as  a  State,"  he  said,  "  or  with 
any  declaration  that  the  territory  should  become  a  State.  We  took 
it  by  cession.  Our  title  to  the  territory  is  perfect  and  complete  and 
constitutional." 

Mr.  Platt  maintained  that  the  right  to  Florida  did  not  rest  alone 
on  the  quitclaim  from  Spain,  but  on  a  deeper  and  broader  right.  He 
held  that  the  United  States  "have  the  right  to  acquire  territory  in 
all  ways  that  are  used  by  other  sovereign  nations  of  the  world." 

"Yes;  the  right  to  acquire  territory  is  an  element  of  nationality; 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  obligation  to  give  to  the  people  of 
acquired  territory  the  right  of  self-government  until  such  time  as  they 
are  fit  to  exercise  that  right.  If  we  believe  the  people  of  a  country 
acquired  are  not  fitted  for  the  government  of  themselves,  it  is  our 
duty  to  give  them  the  most  liberal  government  they  are  capable  of 
accepting,  and  to  educate  them  up,  as  best  it  may  be,  to  the  point 
where  they  will  be  capable  of  self-government.  The  Constitution 
does  not  confer  the  right  of  suffrage." 

SENATOR    CIIAUNCEY    M.     DEPEw's    POSITION. 

Senator-elect  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  when  he  was  the  guest  of 
the  Independent  Club  of  Buffalo,  speaking  for  expansion,  said  : 

"In  the  closing  hours  of  1898  we  are  at  the  highest  development 
of  American  prosperity  and  power.  By  a  marvelous  series  of  provi 
dences  we  are  in  the  possession  of  vast  territories,  peopled  by  alien 
races  in  various  degrees  of  civilization,  in  regard  to  which  there  have 
been  thrust  upon  us  the  gravest  responsibilities.  Our  success  in  their 
government  depends  upon  the  faithful  application  of  the  same  oft- 
tried  and  ever-successful  principles  which  have  been  worked  out  in 
such  a  marvelous  way  in  our  own  history. 


24o  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

"  The  evolution  of  its  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  Ameri 
can  Republic  has  been  for  one  hundred  years  toward  national  supre 
macy.  Now,  in  1898,  at  the  close  of  the  Spanish  War,  the  President 
of  the  United  States  possesses  and  exercises  an  authority  beyond 
that  of  any  ruler  in  the  world,  except  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  with 
out  question  from  any  source. 

"  We  face  at  this  time  questions  as  vital  to  the  future  of  our 
country  as  any  which  in  the  past  have  been  met  and  successfully 
answered.  The  Federation  of  Washington,  in  1798,  has  developed 
into  the  United  States  of  1898,  with  that  inherent  power  which  is 
always  attached  to  national  sovereignty — of  acquiring  territory  by 
conquest  or  power.  No  constitutional  lawyer  will  doubt  this  power. 
I  do  not  think  any  body  of  constitutional  lawyers  will  doubt  that 
among  the  reserved  powers  of  sovereignty  which  belong  to  us  as  a 
nation  is  the  right  to  administer  the  affairs  of  territories  acquired  by 
conquest  or  by  cession,  under  such  form  of  government  as  Congress 
and  the  Executive  may  prescribe. 

"  To  maintain  order  in  Cuba,  until  the  people  shall  be  able  to 
reach  a  stable  government  of  liberty  and  law,  is  humanity.  To 
incorporate  Porto  Rico  in  our  domain,  relieve  its  citizens  from 
oppression,  and  give  them  good  government,  is  humanity.  To  per 
mit  the  bloody  hand  of  Spain  to  again  grasp  the  throat  of  ten 
millions  of  Filipinos,  or  to  pass  them  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
European  governments,  would  be  inhuman  and  cowardly  ;  it  would 
be  refusing  the  mission  which  Providence  has  distinctly  forced  upon 
us.  We  must  judge  of  the  future  of  these  possessions,  not  by  the 
oppressions,  which  they  have  suffered,  but  by  the  liberty  which  they 
will  enjoy.  The  Philippines  to  the  United  States,  like  Java  to  Hol 
land,  under  the  inspiring  influences  of  American  opportunity,  of 
American  schools  and  American  hope,  will  be  an  immense  market, 
and  a  large  source  of  revenue  over  and  above  the  cost  of  administra 
tion  for  the  United  States.  Our  Government,  firmly  planted,  will 
not  only  enter  the  'open  door'  of  the  Orient  for  the  products  of  our 
fields  and  our  factories,  but  when  the  great  boot  of  Uncle  Sam  is  put 
in  the  crack  of  the  door  which  continental  nations  would  close,  there 
will  be  no  musket  jammed  upon  that  boot  to  compel  its  with 
drawal," 


WILLIAM  /.  BRYAN'S  VIEWS  243 

William  J.  Bryan,  of  course,  emphatically  disapproved  of  the 
stand  taken  by  the  Government.  He  said  : 

"  Spain,  under  compulsion,  gives  us  a  quitclaim  to  the  Philip 
pines  in  return  for  $20,000,000,  but  she  does  not  agree  to  warrant 
and  defend  our  title  as  against  the  Filipinos.  To  buy  land  is  one 
thing,  to  buy  people  is  another.  Land  is  inanimate,  and  makes  no 
resistance  to  a  transfer  of  title  ;  the  people  are  animate,  and  some 
times  desire  a  voice  in  their  own  affairs.  But,  even  if  measured  by 
dollars  and  cents,  the  conquest  of  the  Philippines  should  prove  profit 
able  or  expensive,  it  will  certainly  prove  embarrassing  to  those  who 
still  hold  to  the  doctrine  which  underlies  a  republic.  Military  rule  is 
antagonistic  to  our  theory  of  government.  The  armaments  which 
are  used  to  defend  it  in  the  Philippines  may  be  used  to  excuse  it  in 
the  United  States.  Under  military  rule  much  must  be  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  Military  Governor ;  and  this  can  only  be  justified 
in  the  theory  that  the  Military  Governor  knows  more  than  the  peo 
ple  whom  he  governs,  is  better  acquainted  with  their  needs  than  they 
are  themselves,  is  entirely  in  sympathy  with  them,  and  is  thoroughly 
honest  and  unselfish  in  his  desire  to  do  them  good.  Such  a  combina 
tion  of  wisdom,  integrity,  and  love  is  difficult  to  find ;  and  the  Repub 
lican  party  will  enter  upon  a  hard  task  when  it  starts  out  to  select 
suitable  Military  Governors  for  our  remote  possessions. 

"  We  cannot  afford  to  destroy  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ; 
we  cannot  afford  to  erase  from  our  Constitutions,  State  and  National, 
the  Bill  of  Rights ;  we  have  not  time  to  examine  the  libraries  of  the 
nation  and  purge  them  of  the  essays,  the  speeches,  and  the  books 
that  defend  the  doctrine  that  law  is  the  crystallization  of  public 
opinion,  rather  than  an  emanation  from  physical  power. 

"  But  even  if  we  could  destroy  every  vestige  of  the  laws  which 
are  the  outgrowth  of  the  immortal  law  penned  by  Jefferson ;  if  we 
could  obliterate  every  written  word  that  has  been  inspired  by  the 
idea  that  this  is  '  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people ',  we  could  not  tear  from  the  heart  of  the  human  race  the 
hope  which  the  American  Republic  has  planted  there.  The  impas 
sioned  appeal,  '  Give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death',  still  echoes  around 
the  world.  In  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  the  desire  to  be  free  will  be 
stronger  than  the  desire  to  enjoy  a  mere  physical  existence.  The 


244  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

conflict  between  might  and  right  will  continue  here  and  everywhere 
until  a  day  is  reached  when  the  love  of  money  will  no  longer  sear 
the  national  conscience,  and  hypocrisy  no  longer  hide  the  hideous 
features  of  avarice  behind  the  mask  of  philanthropy." 

WHAT    EX-PRESIDENT    CLEVELAND    THINKS. 

Ex-President  Grover  Cleveland,  lent  the  weight  of  his  influence 
against  expansion.  On  one  occasion  he  gave  the  following  sarcastic 
interview  : 

"  Assuming  that  my  ideas  on  the  subject  are  antiquated  and  un- 
suited  to  these  progressive  days,  it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that 
the  refusal  of  certain  natives  of  our  new  possessions  to  acquiesce  in 
the  beneficence  of  subjecting  them  to  our  control  and  management 
should,  in  the  least,  disturb  our  expansionists.  This  phase  of  the 
situation  ought  not  to  have  been  unanticipated,  nor  the  incidents 
naturally  growing  out  of  it  overlooked. 

11  The  remedy  is  obvious  and  simple.  The  misguided  inhabitants 
of  our  annexed  territory  who  prefer  something  different  from  the 
plan  for  their  control  which  we  propose,  or  who  oppose  our  designs 
in  their  behalf,  should  be  slaughtered.  The  killing  of  natives  has 
been  a  feature  of  expansion  since  expansion  began,  and  our  imperial 
istic  enthusiasm  should  not  be  checked  by  the  prospective  necessity 
of  destroying  a  few  thousand  or  a  few  hundred  thousand  Filipinos. 
This  should  only  be  regarded  as  one  stage  in  a  transcendentally 
great  movement  a  mere  incident  in  its  progress.  Of  course,  some 
unprepared  souls  would  then  be  lost  before  we  had  the  oppor 
tunity  of  christianizing  them,  but  surely  those  of  our  clergymen  who 
have  done  so  much  to  encourage  expansion  could  manage  that 
difficulty." 

SENATOR    HOAR'S    ARGUMENTS. 

Senator  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  calls  it  a  spasm  of  folly.  In  his 
speech  before  the  Senate,  he  said : 

"  The  persons  who  favor  the  ratification  of  this  treaty  without 
conditions  and  without  amendment  differ  among  themselves  certainly 
in  their  views,  purposes  and  opinions,  and  as  they  are  so  many  of  them 
honest  and  well-meaning  persons,  we  have  the  right  to  say,  in  their 
actual  and  real  opinions.  In  general,  the  state  of  mind  and  the 


SENA  TOR  HOAR'S  ARG  UMENTS  245 

utterance  of  the  lips  are  in  accord.  If  you  ask  them  what  they  want, 
you  are  answered  with  a  shout  :  '  Three  cheers  for  the  Flag  !  Who 
will  dare  to  haul  it  down  ?  Hold  on  to  everything  you  can  get.  The 
United  States  is  strong  enough  to  do  what  it  likes.  The  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  the  counsel  at  Washington  and  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  have  grown  rusty  and  musty.  They  are  for 
little  countries  and  not  for  great  ones.  There  is  no  moral  law  for 
strong  nations.  America  has  outgrown  Americanism/ 

"In  general,  the  friends  of  what  is  called  imperialism  or  expan 
sion  content  themselves  with  declaring  that  the  flag  which  is  taken 
down  every  night  and  put  up  again  every  morning  over  the  roof  of 
this  Senate  Chamber,  where  it  is  in  its  rightful  place,  must  never  be 
taken  down  where  it  once  floated,  whether  that  be  its  rightful  place 
or  not — a  doctrine  which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  say  before  I  get 
through  is  not  only  without  justification  in  international  law;  but  if  it 
were  implanted  there  would  make  of  every  war  between  civilized  and 
powerful  nations  a  war  of  extermination  or  a  war  of  dishonor  to  one 
party  or  the  other. 

'*  The  power  to  conquer  alien  peoples  and  hold  them  in  subjuga 
tion  is  nowhere  expressly  granted. 

"  The  power  to  conquer  alien  peoples  and  hold  them  in  subjuga 
tion  is  nowhere  implied  as  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
purposes  declared  by  the  Constitution. 

"  It  is  clearly  shown  to  be  one  that  ought  not  to  be  exercised  by 
anybody — one  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  thought  ought 
not  to  be  exercised  by  anybody— 

"  i.      Because  it  is  immoral  and  wicked  in  itself. 

"  2.  Because  it  is  expressly  denied  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  great  interpreter  and  expounder  of  the  meaning  of 
the  Constitution,  which  owes  its  origin  to  the  same  generation  and 
largely  to  the  same  men. 

"  3.  It  is  affirmed  that  it  is  immoral  and  unfit  to  be  exercised 
by  anybody — in  numerous  instances  by  contemporary  State  Con 
stitutions  and  the  contemporary  writers  and  authorities  on  public 
law,  who  expressed  the  opinion  of  the  American  people  in  that 
generation  who  adopted  the  Constitution  as  well  as  of  the  men  who 
framed  it. 


246  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

11  The  power  to  hold  property  is  implied  whether  that  property 
be  land  or  chattels.  And,  Mr.  President,  you  are  not  now  proposing 
to  acquire  or  own  property  in  the  Philippines  with  dominion  as  a 
necessary  incident,  you  are  not  to  own  a  foot  of  land  there.  You 
propose  now  to  acquire  dominion  and  legislative  power  and  nothing 
else.  Where  in  the  Constitution  is  the  grant  of  power  to  exercise 
sovereignty  where  you  have  no  property. 

"  Now,  there  are  Senators  here,  yet  hesitating  as  to  what  their 
action  may  be  in  the  future,  who  will  tell  you  that  they  loathe  and 
hate  this  doctrine  that  we  may  buy  nations  at  wholesale  ;  that  we 
may  acquire  imperial  powers  or  imperial  regions  by  conquest ;  that 
we  may  make  vassal  states  and  subject  peoples  without  constitutional 
restraint,  and  against  their  will  and  without  any  restraint  but  our 
own  discretion. 

"  The  one  great  lesson  which  sums  up  the  teachings  of  American 
history  during  our  century  of  constitutional  life  is  the  dignity  of 
labor.  It  is  an  unquestionable  truth  that  no  tropical  colony  was  ever 
settled  by  men  not  born  in  tropical  climes,  for  the  purpose  of  finding 
work.  There  was  scarcely  ever  a  tropical  colony  successful  at  all. 
There  was  never  a  tropical  colony  successful  except  under  the  system 
of  contract  labor.  That  is  to  be  set  up,  enforced  and  administered 
by  the  agencies  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  if  we  are  to 
succeed  in  such  administration  at  all. 

"  The  Senator  from  Connecticut  seems  to  contemplate  that  we 
shall  embark  on  a  permanent  system  of  national  expenditure  which 
will  put  this  nation  under  an  obligation,  the  equivalent  of  which  will 
be  a  national  debt  greater  than  that  of  any  other  nation  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Our  civil  list,  already  so  enormous,  must  be  enormously 
increased.  Instead  of  taking  from  the  people  by  fair  competition,  or 
even  by  fair  selection,  men  to  take  their  share  in  self-government,  we 
must  have  in  the  future,  as  they  have  in  England,  a  trained  class  whose 
lives  are  to  be  spent  not  in  self-government,  but  in  the  government  of 
other  men." 

SENATOR  VEST'S  VIEWS. 

Senator  Vest's  speech,  in  starting  the  opposition  to  the  Peace 
Treaty,  stated  that  our  forefathers  had  fought  for  years  against  tax 
ation  without  representation.  The  Declaration  of  Independence 


SENATOR   VEST'S  VIEWS  247 

had  been  drawn  up  with  the  idea  that  all  governments  derived  their 
just  powers  from  the  governed.  It  was  incredible  that  the  founders 
of  the  Government  could  have  looked  forward  to  the  time  when 
millions  of  human  beings  could  be  held  without  their  consent,  merely 
as  chattels,  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  sovereign  powers  of  the  mother 
country  might  choose.  It  seemed  to  him  the  historic  argument  that 
the  just  powers  of  the  Government  were  derived  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed  fully  covered  his  position,  inasmuch  as  it  had  been 
fully  maintained  by  the  courts. 

Mr.  Vest  thought  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  expansionists  to 
adopt  the  European  system  of  colonization.  He  pointed  out  that 
Great  Britain  had  in  the  mother  country  120,979  square  miles  of 
territory,  and  in  her  colonies  16,667,071  square  miles.  The  dispro 
portion  of  population  was  about  the  same.  He  maintained  that  the 
fundamental  principle  of  this  Government  was  the  granting  of  citi 
zenship  to  all  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Government,  except 
alone  the  Indians.  The  question,  Mr.  Vest  thought,  was  the  result 
of  the  efforts  of  desperate  disputants  who  appear  in  the  public  press 
day  by  day  and  attack  public  men  because  they  adhere  to  the  Con 
stitution  and  resist  this  new  evangel. 

u  To  say,"  declared  Mr.  Vest,  "  that  citizens  of  a  territory  are 
excluded  from  the  privileges  guaranteed  by  the  Bill  of  Rights  and 
are  merely  subjects  of  the  arbitrary  will  of  Congress,  is  a  monstrous 
proposition ;  but  fortunately  the  Supreme  Court  had  determined 
that  question  in  many  cases. 

"  I  do  not  deny  the  power  of  the  Federal  Government  to 
acquire  territory,  but  I  do  deny  its  power  to  acquire  territory  peo 
pled  with  millions  without  their  consent  and  with  no  intention  of 
conferring  upon  them  citizenship.  I  may  be  answered  that  the  point 
is  not  good  ;  that  it  may  be  evaded  by  the  taking  in  of  vast  tracts  of 
lands  peopled  with  barbarians,  to  be  held  merely  for  commercial 
advantages.  When  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  shall  become 
so  degraded  as  this,  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  the  end  shall 
come." 

"We  are  a  great  people,"  concluded  Mr.  Vest.  "  We  are  told 
that  this  country  can  do  anything,  Constitution  or  no  Constitution. 
We  are  a  great  people,  it  is  true,  but  we  cannot  do  more  than  another 


248  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

great  people  did — a  people  that  conquered  the  world,  not  with  steel 
ships  and  modern  cannon,  but  with  bare  swords  and  primitive  galleys. 
The  colonial  system  destroyed  all  hope  of  republicism  in  the  old 
time.  It  is  an  appendage  of  monarchy.  It  can  exist  in  no  free 
country,  because  it  uproots  and  eliminates  the  bases  of  all  republican 
institutions — that  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed.  I  know  not  what  may  be  done  with  the 
glamour  of  foreign  conquest  and  greed  of  the  money-making  classes 
of  this  country.  For  myself,  I  would  rather  quit  public  life  this 
minute — nay,  I  would  be  willing  to  yield  life  itself — rather  than  give 
my  consent  to  this  fantastic  and  wicked  attempt  to  revolutionize  our 
Government  and  to  substitute  the  principles  of  our  hereditary  enemy 
for  the  teachings  of  Washington  and  his  associates." 

HON.    CARL    SCHURZ'S    VIEWS. 

Perhaps  none  of  the  anti-expansionists  received  as  much  criti 
cism  as  Hon.  Carl  Schurz,  the  noted  New  Yorker.  In  an  address,  he 
said: 

"  If  we  take  these  new  regions,  we  shall  be  well  entangled  in 
that  contest  for  territorial  aggrandizement,  which  distracts  other 
nations  and  drives  them  far  beyond  their  original  design.  So  it  will 
be  inevitably  with  us.  We  shall  want  new  conquests  to  protect  that 
which  we  already  possess.  The  greed  of  speculators  working  upon 
our  Government  will  push  us  from  one  point  to  another,  and  we  shall 
have  new  conflicts  on  our  hands,  almost  without  knowing  how  we 
got  into  them.  It  has  always  been  so  under  such  circumstances,  and 
always  will  be.  This  means  more  and  more  soldiers,  ships  and  guns. 

"  We  are  already  told  that  we  shall  need  a  regular  army  of  at 
least  100,000,  three-fourths  of  whom  are  to  serve  in  our  'new  pos 
sessions.'  The  question  is,  whether  this  necessity  is  to  be  only  tern-; 
porary  or  permanent.  Look  at  the  cost.  Last  year  the  support  of 
the  army  proper  required  about  $23,000,000.  It  is  computed  that, 
taking  the  increased  costliness  of  the  service  in  the  tropics  into 
account,  the  army  under  the  new  dispensation  will  require  about 
$150,000,000;  that  is,  $127,000,000  a  year  more. 

"  It  is  also  officially  admitted  that  the  possession  of  the  Philip 
pines  would  render  indispensable  a  much  larger  increase  of  the  navy 


HON.  CARL  SCHURZ'S  VIEWS  249 

than  would  otherwise  be  necessary,  costing  untold  millions  for  the 
building  and  equipment  of  ships,  and  untold  millions  every  year  for 
their  maintenance  and  for  the  increased  number  of  officers  and  men. 
What  we  shall  have  to  spend  for  fortifications  and  the  like  cannot 
now  be  computed. 

"  But  there  is  a  burden  upon  us  which,  in  like  weight,  no  other 
nation  has  to  bear.  To-day,  thirty-three  years  after  the  Civil  War, 
we  have  a  pension  roll  of  very  nearly  1,000,000  names.  And  still 
they  come.  We  paid  to  pensioners  over  $145,000,000  last  year,  a 
sum  larger  than  the  annual  cost  of  the  whole  military  peace  estab 
lishment  of  the  German  empire,  including  its  pension  roll.  Our 
recent  Spanish  war  will,  according  to  a  moderate  estimate,  add  at 
least  $20,000,000  to  our  annual  pension  payments.  But  if  we  send 
troops  to  the  tropics  and  keep  them  there,  we  must  look  for  a  steady 
stream  of  pensioners  from  that  quarter,  for  in  the  tropics  soldiers  are 
"  used  up  "  very  fast,  even  if  they  have  no  campaigning  to  do. 

"  The  cry  suddenly  raised  that  this  great  country  has  become 
too  small  for  us  is  too  ridiculous  to  demand  an  answer,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  our  present  population  may  be  tripled  and  still  have  ample 
elbow-room,  with  resources  to  support  many  more.  But  we  are  told 
that  our  industries  are  gasping  for  breath  ;  that  we  are  suffering  from 
over-production  ;  that  our  products  must  have  new  outlets,  and  that 
we  need  new  colonies  and  dependencies  the  world  over  to  give  us 
more  markets.  More  markets  ?  Certainly.  But  do  we,  civilized 
beings,  indulge  in  the  absurd  and  barbarous  notion  that  we  must  own 
the  countries  with  which  we  wish  to  trade?  Here  are  our  official 
reports  before  us,  telling  us  that  of  late  years  our  export  trade  has 
grown  enormously,  not  only  of  farm  products,  but  of  the  products  of 
our  manufacturing  industries  ;  in  fact,  that  '  our  sales  of  manufactured 
goods  have  continued  to  extend  with  a  facility  and  promptitude  of 
results  which  have  excited  the  serious  concern  of  countries  that,  for 
generations,  had  not  only  controlled  their  home  markets,  but  practi 
cally  monopolized  certain  lines  of  trade  in  other  lands.' 

"  That  our  victories  have  evolved  upon  us  certain  duties  as  to  the 
people  of  the  conquered  islands,  I  readily  admit.  But  are  they  the 
only  duties  we  have  to  perform,  or  have  they  suddenly  become  para 
mount  to  all  other  duties  ?  I  deny  it.  I  deny  that  the  duties  we 


250  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  ISLANDS 

owe  to  the  Cubans  and  the  Porto  Ricans  and  the  Filipinos  and  the 
Tagals  of  the  Asiatic  islands  absolve  us  from  our  duties  to  the 
75,000,000  of  our  own  people  and  to  their  posterity.  I  deny  that 
they  oblige  us  to  destroy  the  moral  credit  of  our  own  Republic  by 
turning  this  loudly  heralded  war  of  liberation  and  humanity  into  a 
land-grabbing  game,  and  an  act  of  criminal  aggression.  I  deny  that 
they  compel  us  to  aggravate  our  race  troubles,  to  bring  upon  us  the 
constant  danger  of  war  and  to  subject  our  people  to  the  galling  bur 
den  of  increasing  armaments.  If  we  have  rescued  those  unfortunate 
daughters  of  Spain,  the  colonies,  from  the  tyranny  of  their  cruel 
father,  I  deny  that  we  are  therefore  in  honor  bound  to  marry  any  of 
the  girls,  or  to  take  them  all  into  our  household,  where  they  may 
disturb  and  demoralize  our  whole  family.  I  deny  that  the  liberation 
of  those  Spanish  dependencies  morally  constrains  us  to  do  anything 
that  would  put  our  highest  mission  to  solve  the  great  problem  of 
Democratic  government  in  jeopardy,  or  that  would  otherwise  endan 
ger  the  vital  interests  of  the  Republic.  Whate\  er  our  duties  to  them 
may  be,  our  duties  to  our  own  country  and  people  stand  first ;  and 
from  this  standpoint  we  have  as  sane  men  and  patriotic  citizens  to 
regard  our  obligation  to  take  care  of  the  future  of  those  islands  and 
their  people. 

"  They  fought  for  deliverance  from  Spanish  oppression,  and  we 
helped  them  to  obtain  that  deliverance.  That  deliverance  they 
understand  to  mean  independence.  I  repeat  the  question  whether 
anybody  can  tell  me  why  the  declaration  of  Congress  that  the  Cubans 
of  right  ought  to  be  free  and  independent,  should  not  apply  to  all  of 
them  ?  Their  independence,  therefore,  would  be  the  natural  and 
rightful  outcome.  This  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  first  to  be 
taken  in  view.  It  is  objected  that  they  are  not  capable  of  inde 
pendent  government.  They  may  answer  that  this  is  their  affair,  and 
that  they  are  at  least  entitled  to  a  trial." 


VIEW   IN   BANCA  SHOWING   DUTCH    FORTIFICATIONS. 
^ 


THE   NATIVE   FARMER  AND   HIS   FAITHFUL  SERVANT. 

The  Carabao,  or  large  Water  Buffalo  of  the  Philippine  Islands  is  the  chief  domestic  animal  of  the  nati 
captured  wild  when  youns.     It  is  large  and  as  strong  as  two  horses. 


ves.    It  is  generally 


.„»,..        HI 


SENOR   MONTERO   RIOS 

President  of  the  Spanish  Peace  Commission,  whose 

painful  duty  required  him  to  sign  away  his 

country's  colonial  possessions. 


GENERAL  RAM  ON    BLANCO 

Who  succeeded  Weyler  as  Captain  General  of  Cuba 

in  1897.     He  was  formerly  Governor-General 

of  the  Philippine  Islands. 


ADMIRAL  CERVERA 

Commander  of  Spanish  Fleet  at  Santiago. 


SAGASTA 

Premier  of  Spain  during  the  Spanish-American  War. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Ladrone   Islands. 

The  Bloodless  Battle  of  Guam. — When  the  Charleston  Opened  Fire  on  the  Little  City 
of  Agana,  the  Governor  Thought  we  were  Saluting  Him. — A  Population  which 
has  Twice  Disappeared. — Poverty  and  Laziness  on  all  Sides. — The  Value  of  the 
Island  as  a  Military  Station. 

ON   July  4,  1898,  the  United    States  steamship  Charleston  had 
a  little  celebration  all  by  itself  in  the  middle  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  during  which  it  captured  an  island  and  hoisted  the 
American  flao;  in  a  new  land.     It  was  an  incident  of  war  which  was 

o 

unexpected.  The  inhabitants  of  the  island  did  not  even  know  that 
war  existed  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  The  country  was 
so  far  removed  from  the  seat  of  Spanish  government  and  so  out  of 
touch  with  the  things  that  were  going  on  in  the  world,  that  when  the 
war  vessel  of  Uncle  Sam  came  near  to  this  Spanish  possession  and 
fired  her  shot  upon  the  frowning  forts  that  guarded  the  little  city  of 
Agana,  there  was  no  reply,  and  when  troops  were  landed  to  take 
possession  of  the  city,  and  the  Governor  of  the  island  was  asked  to 
surrender,  he  expressed  his  great  surprise  at  the  demand  and  was 
startled  to  learn  that  his  country  had  become  involved  in  a  struggle 
with  the  United  States. 

He  had  heard  the  roar  of  the  guns  of  the  Charleston,  but  he  thought 
"  the  noble  Americans  were  saluting  him,  and  he  was  deeply  humili 
ated  because  he  had  no  powder  to  return  their  salute."  It  followed 
that  he  had  no  powder  with  which  to  fight,  so  he  immediately  surren 
dered  the  island  of  Guam  to  the  American  officers,  and  soon  the  flag 
of  Spain  was  lowered  over  the  little  isle  where  it  had  fluttered  for 
so  many  years,  and  in  its  stead  waved  a  new  flag,  a  symbol  unknown 
to  the  people  of  that  place,  a  symbol  that  is  to  bring  them  peace  and 
prosperity  greater  than  any  they  have  ever  known,  guaranteed  by  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  of  the  United  States. 

253 


2  5  4  THE  LAD  RONE  ISLANDS 

The  Governor  of  the  island  and  all  his  soldiers  were  taken  on 
board  the  Charleston  as  prisoners  of  war.  Then  the  vessel  continued 
her  voyage  to  Manila,  leaving  a  handful  of  men  to  garrison  the 
fort  of  Guam.  Later  on,  when  the  Treaty  of  Peace  was  signed,  this 
little  island  of  Guam  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  as  a  coaling 
station.  Its  situation  makes  it  valuable  to  the  United  States  from  a 
naval  standpoint,  for  it  is  in  a  direct  line  across  the  Pacific,  giving  us 
Hawaii,  Guam  and  the  Philippines  as  keys  to  practically  the  whole 
commerce  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which  if  the  prophecies  of  the  present 
are  fulfilled  will  be  the  great  highway  of  commerce  in  the  years  to 
come. 

This  little  Island  of  Guam  is  not  intrinsically  a  valuable  posses 
sion.  As  a  coaling  station,  however,  it  will  more  than  repay  for  its 
keep,  for  this  only  of  all  the  islands  possessed  by  the  United  States 
is  not  self-supporting,  and  has  not  been  for  years. 

THE    DISCOVERY    OF    THE    LADRONES. 

It  was  a  welcome  sight  to  Magellan  and  his  crew  when,  one  day 
in  March,  nearly  four  hundred  years  ago  they  beheld  the  verdant  and 
beautifully  sloping  hills  of  the  Ladrone  Islands.  Eighteen  weary 
months  before  they  had  sailed  from  the  coast  of  Spain,  and  all  that 
time,  first  to  the  southwest  and  then  to  the  northwest,  they  had  fol 
lowed  the  setting  sun.  Theirs  were  the  first  vessels  manned  by 
white  men  that  had  ever  plowed  the  trackless  Pacific  ;  and  this  was 
the  first  land  ever  seen  by  white  men  within  that  unknown  ocean. 

It  was  a  pitiable  crew  on  these  small,  weather-beaten  ships,  who 
drew,  that  March  morning,  toward  the  coast  of  the  present  island  of 
Guam.  Hunger  and  thirst  had  driven  them  to  the  verge  of  mad 
ness.  They  had  eaten  even  the  leather  thongs  from  their  sail  fasten 
ings,  and  only  a  small  mug  of  water  per  day  was  the  portion  of  drink 
for  a  man.  "  Land  !  Land  !"  It  was  a  glad  cry  from  the  watch  aloft. 
There  were  palm  trees,  cocoanuts,  green  grass,  tropical  fruits,  an 
abundance  of  fresh  water,  and — though  naked — a  curious  and  friendly 
people.  No  wonder  Magellan  paused  to  rest  himself  and  his  sailors. 
But  the  welcome  he  got  on  this  i6th  day  of  March,  1521,  was  such 
that  his  stay  was  not  a  very  long  one.  The  sight  of  these  strange 
ships  from  a  foreign  land  aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  natives  to  such 


IT  WAS  CALLED  THE  ISLE  OF  ROBBERS  255 

an  extent  that  they  swarmed  around  in  their  native  canoes,  and  some 
even  swam  out  to  meet  the  newcomers.  They  climbed  over  their 
ships'  sides,  and  overran  them  so  that  they  had  to  be  expelled  by 
force.  As  a  farewell  token  these  natives  took  one  of  the  ships'  boats, 
and  nearly  a  hundred  men  had  to  be  sent  on  shore  to  recover  it. 
There  was  a  bloody  combat,  in  which  many  lives  were  sacrificed, 
but  the  Spaniards  eventually  recovered  their  lost  possession. 

IT    WAS    CALLED    THE    ISLE    OF    ROBBERS. 

Magellan  named  the  place  Islas  de  las  Velas  Latinas,  or  islands 
of  the  Lateen  Sails,  but  Legaspi  called  them  Ladrones,  which  is  the 
Spanish  word  for  "robbers,"  and  by  that  name  they  have  been  known 
ever  after. 

Since  that  time  they  have  been  visited  by  many  explorers.  In 
1662  one  of  these  roving  vessels,  the  San  Damian,  while  on  a  voyage 
from  Mexico  to  Manila,  anchored  on  the  Island  of  Guam.  It  had  on 
board  a  missionary,  Fray  Diego  Luis  Desan  Victores,  who  was  very 
much  struck  by  the  wretched  poverty  of  the  natives  and  their  terrible 
condition,  both  physically  and  spiritually.  When  he  reached  Manila 
he  tried  to  get  prominent  members  of  his  Church  interested  in  these 
natives,  and  so  much  did  he  plea  for  them  to  his  superiors  that  they 
had  to  order  him  to  drop  the  subject.  Finally,  however,  he  secured 
a  good  word  on  behalf  of  his  project  from  the  Archbishop,  who 
brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  King  Philip  the  Fourth. 
Other  pressure  was  also  brought  on  that  monarch  so  that  in  1666  a  royal 
decree  was  received  sanctioning  the  establishing  of  a  mission  in  the 
Ladrones,  so  Fray  Diego,  finally  successful  in  the  scheme  that  had 
taken  possession  of  his  whole  life,  set  sail  from  Spain  for  the  islands, 
intending  to  stop  in  Mexico  on  the  way.  But  the  owners  of  the 
vessel  in  which  he  sailed  wished  to  change  her  destination  to  Peru,  so 
that  they  might  carry  a  full  cargo.  All  of  the  pleas  of  the  priest 
could  do  nothing,  and  finally  when  the  cargo  was  put  on  it  shifted  to 
one  side,  so  that  the  vessel  leaned  and  was  not  able  to  right  herself. 
This  decided  the  owners  to  lighten  her,  and  they  dispatched  the 
vessel  to  Mexico,  as  was  desired  by  the  priest.  So  Fray  Diego  finally 
arrived  safely  in  that  city,  but  there  he  encountered  more  trouble. 
The  Viceroy  declared  that  he  had  no  orders  to  send  an  expedition  to 


256  THE  LA  DRONE  ISLANDS 

the  Ladrones,  and  remained  inflexible  to  all  entreaty.  Even  his  wife 
begged  him  on  her  bended  knees  to  yield  to  the  call  for  help  from 
these  far-away  islands,  and  it  is  said  that  while  she  besought  him  an 
earthquake  shook  the  city.  The  friar  called  it  a  manifestation  of  the 
disapproval  of  Heaven,  and  so  superstition  accomplished  what  entrea 
ties  could  not  accomplish,  and  the  expedition  started  in  March,  1668, 
in  charge  of  a  Jesuit  mission. 

THE    NAME    OF    THE    ISLANDS    IS    CHANGED. 

Subsequently  Queen  Maria  Anna,  who  had  succeeded  King  Philip 
IV.  to  the  throne,  gave  the  mission  a  pension  of  $3,000  per  year,  to 
commemorate  which  liberality  the  Spaniards  formally  named  the  islands 
the  Islas  Marianas,  by  which  name  they  are  known  in  Spain  up  to  this 
day,  although  the  older  name  Ladrones  is  better  known  elsewhere. 

As  soon  as  the  mission  of  Fray  Diego  became  fairly  established 
on  the  island,  a  small  body  of  troops,  consisting  of  12  Spaniards  and 
19  Filipinos  was  sent  there,  with  2  pieces  of  artillery.  For  a  time 
the  natives  accepted  the  dominion  of  the  invaders,  but  as  they 
became  more  and  more  trodden  under  the  feet  of  these  foreigners, 
they  arose  in  rebellion.  But  here,  again,  Fray  Diego  was  lucky,  for 
once  more  Nature  came  to  him  as  a  powerful  ally  working  upon  the 
superstition  of  the  ignorant  islanders.  While  the  rebellion  was  going 
on,  a  severe  storm  came  up  and  swept"  all  of  the  huts  of  the  natives 
before  it.  Thereupon  the  priests  told  them  that  Heaven  was  angered 
at  their  uprising,  and  finally  peace  was  declared.  Fray  Diego  went 
over  to  Visayas  shortly  after,  where  he  was  killed.  No  sooner  had 
he  gone  than  the  natives  again  revolted  against  the  oppression  of 
these  foreign  priests,  who  wished  to  force  them  to  adopt  a  religion 
of  which  they  knew  nothing,  and  rites  which  were  mysterious  to 
them.  From  time  to  time  they  sacrificed  the  priests,  either  in  war 
fare  or  in  massacre.  In  1778  a  Governor  of  the  islands  was 
appointed.  He  came  from  Mexico  with  thirty  soldiers,  but,  after 
two  years'  service,  resigned,  finding  the  field  unfruitful  and  the  honor 
barren  ;  for  so  great  is  the  poverty  there  that,  during  the  first  cen 
tury  of  Spanish  rule,  the  Government  was  never  able  to  collect  a 
cent  of  tribute  from  the  natives,  and,  even  at  the  present  time,  the 
revenue  from  the  islands  is  not  nearly  sufficient  to  pay  expenses. 


THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  ARCHIPELAGO  257 

There  are  two  groups  of  islands  in  the  Ladrones,  divided  by  a 
broad  channel.  Altogether  they  have  an  area  of  about  417  square 
miles.  The  northern  group  consists  of  ten  islands,  which  are  unin 
habited.  The  southern  group  comprises  five  islands,  one  of  which 
is  not  inhabited, — Guahan  or  Guam,  as  it  is  known,  Rota,  Aguigan, 
Tinian,  and  Saypan.  The  chief  one  of  these  is  Guam,  which  is  the 
largest,  the  most  settled,  and  the  most  southern  of  the  islands.  It 
contains  the  only  city  in  the  colony,  San  Ignacio  de  Agafia,  and  the 
fortified  harbor  of  Umata. 

The  former  is  situated  on  a  creek  called  the  Port  of  Apra. 
Vessels  are  not  able  to  get  up  to  Agafia,  and  they  come  at  anchor 
about  two  miles  off  Punta  Piti,  where  passengers  and  cargo,  as 
well  as  the  mails,  are  taken  over  to  a  very  little  wooden  landing  place. 
Not  far  from  there,  at  a  distance  of  about  500  yards,  is  the  office  of 
the  harbor  master.  The  road  from  there  to  the  capital  is  a  hard  one  to 
travel,  and  extends  for  a  distance  of  five  miles.  So  difficult  is  com 
munication  between  the  harbor  and  the  capital  of  the  islands  that  it 
has  been  a  mooted  question  for  many  years  as  to  whether  it  would  not 
be  better  to  change  the  location  of  the  chief  city  of  the  colony,  but, 
as  yet,  nothing  has  been  done. 

In  the  capital  there  are  some  fairly  good-sized  buildings,  includ 
ing  a  government  house,  a  military  hospital  and  pharmacy,  an  artil 
lery  depot,  infantry  barracks,  a  prison,  a  tribunal  and  administra 
tor's  office,  as  well  as  some  ruins  which  mark  the  spot  where  once 
stood  what  was  known  as  the  Public  Buildings.  There  are  also  a  Col 
lege  of  San  Juan  de  Letran  for  boys  and  a  school  for  girls  there. 

In  the  city  there  are  eight  so-called  stores,  besides  small  wretched 
huts,  where  native  aguardiente  is  sold.  It  is  made  out  of  fermented 
cocoanut  milk.  The  stores  are  classed  as  follows  :  First,  Manila ; 
second,  Japanese ;  third,  Chinese  ;  fourth,  Chamarro  (native)  ;  and 
fifth,  American.  There  are  three  of  the  Manila  stores  where  ready- 
made  articles  of  apparel,  notions  in  general  demand,  and  high-priced 
canned  goods  of  poor  quality  are  sold  ;  also  poor  cigars  made  of 
native  tobacco.  The  Japanese  store  is  one  of  the  best,  carrying  the 
same  class  of  goods  with  some  additions.  It  has  eggs  and  bread,  the 
latter  baked  every  other  day,  and  of  a  poor  quality.  The  Chinese 
store  is  very  poor.  The  native  store  has  a  supply  of  native  coffee  of 


258  THE  LAD  RONE  ISLANDS 

fair  quality  and  excellent  chocolate,  also  cotton  goods.  The  Ameri 
can  store  is  more  pretentious,  but  inferior  to  the  Japanese.  It  carries 
a  large  supply  of  canned  goods,  clothes,  notions,  shoes,  and  furniture. 
Flour  is  difficult  to  obtain.  Butter  and  lard  are  not  good,  owing  to 
the  warm  climate.  Chickens  and  eggs  are  plentiful.  The  ,beef  is 
poor,  and  no  sheep  are  raised  inland.  There  are  plenty  of  pigs. 
Yams,  sweet  potatoes  and  corn  are  abundant.  Bananas,  cocoanuts, 
and  breadfruit  are  the  chief  sources  of  food  of  the  natives.  There 
is  little  fishing.  The  clams  are  fairly  good,  and  the  oysters  are  very 
small  and  have  a  sweet  taste.  There  are  plenty  of  deer,  goats,  wild 
turkey,  plover,  ducks  and  other  game  birds. 

Nine  other  towns  exist  on  the  island,  which  boast  parish  priests 
and  churches  built  of  stone  and  roofed  with  reed  patching.  All  of 
these  towns  have  tribunals,  six  made  of  bamboo  and  reed,  one  built 
of  wood,  and  another  of  stone.  In  seven  of  these  towns  there  are 
schools,  four  for  boys,  five  for  girls  and  nine  for  both  sexes,  under 
the  direction  of  twenty-six  teachers. 

The  islands  themselves  are  of  little  value.  The  general  surface 
of  the  southern  group  is  low,  while  that  of  the  northern  is  moun 
tainous,  although  the  mountains  are  not  very  high.  Volcanic  forma 
tions  occur,  and  on  two  of  the  islands  there  are  smoking  craters.  All 
of  the  archipelago  practically  is  densely  wooded,  and  the  vegetation 
is  much  like  that  of  the  Philippines. 

THE    DISAPPEARANCE    OF    POPULATION. 

When  first  visited  by  Europeans,  the  archipelago  contained  from 
40,000  to  60,000  souls,  represented  by  two  distinct  classes,  the  nobles 
and  the  people,  between  whom  marriage  and  even  contact  was  for 
bidden.  But  the  Spanish  conquest  soon  ended  this  distinction  by 
reducing  all  alike  to  servitude.  For  a  long  time  after  Spanish  occu 
pation,  the  natives  complained  and  finally  rebelled  against  the  oppres 
sive  measures  of  their  rulers  ;  but  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury  they  ceased  their  resistance,  and  it  was  found  by  a  census  that 
fully  half  of  them  had  perished  or  escaped  in  their  canoes  to  the 
Caroline  Islands,  and  that  two-thirds  of  their  180  villages  had  fallen 
to  ruins.  Then  came  an  epidemic  which  swept  away  nearly  all  the 
natives  of  Guam,  and  the  island  of  Tinian  (one  of  the  group)  was 


THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  POPULATION  259 

depopulated  and  its  inhabitants  brought  to  Guam.  Nearly  all  the 
new  arrivals  soon  died.  In  the  year  1760,  a  census  showed  a  total  of 
only  10,654  inhabitants  left  in  all  the  islands,  and  the  Spaniards 
repopulated  them  by  bringing  Tagals  from  the  Philippines. 

The  population  of  the  islands  in  1899  was  estimated  at  about 
9,000.  The  people  are  generally  lacking  in  energy,  loose  in  morals 
and  miserably  poor.  Their  education  has  been  seriously  neglected. 
The  natives  of  the  islands  are  about  as  much  domesticated  as  the 
Philippine  islanders,  and  their  features  are  much  more  regular.  The 
introduction  of  Spanish  language  has  practically  driven  out  their  own 
language,  which  is  called  Chamorro,  and  which  much  resembles  the 
dialect  of  the  Visayas.  Some  of  the  natives  also  speak  English,  as 
these  islands  used  to  be  the  resort  of  some  English  speaking  whalers. 
The  Spaniards  have  taught  the  natives  the  use  of  firearms,  and  all 
are  pressed  into  service  and  trained  in  the  arts  of  war. 

The  climate  of  the  islands  is  damp  but  salubrious,  and  the  heat 
is  so  tempered  by  trade  winds  that  it  is  very  much  milder  in  tem 
perature  than  the  Philippines.  The  yearly  mean  temperature  at 
Guam  is  about  81*  F.  August  and  September  are  the  warmest 
months,  but  they  do  not  differ  greatly  from  the  rest  of  the  yean 

There  is  a  wet  and  a  dry  season,  although  in  the  latter  there  is 
considerable  rain  at  times.  From  October  to  May  the  winds  are 
usually  northeasterly,  while  during  the  rest  of  the  year  they  are 
northwesterly  and  southwesterly  as  a  rule,  the  latter  being  accom 
panied  by  much  rain. 

The  islands  are  full  of  rivers,  although  in  Guam  the  clearing 
away  of  the  woods  has  caused  many  of  the  largest  streams  to  dwindle 
down  to  mere  brooks.  Cocoanut  and  other  palms,  the  bread  tree 
and  other  tropical  trees  and  plants  generally  thrive.  The  large  fruit 
bat  which  abounds  in  the  Philippines  is  indigenous  to  the  Ladrones, 
and,  despite  its  objectionable  odor,  is  a  popular  article  of  food. 
Swine  and  oxen  are  allowed  to  run  wild,  and  are  hunted  when 
needed.  There  are  only  a  few  species  of  birds;  even  insects  are  rare; 
and  the  reptiles  are  represented  by  several  kinds  of  lizards  and  a 
single  species  of  serpent.  No  domestic  animals  were  known  in  the 
islands  until  introduced  by  the  Spaniards. 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  Hawaiian    Islands,  uThe  Paradise  of  the 

Pacific." 

Annexed  to  the  United  States  by  Act  of  Congress,  July  7,  1898. — Truly  a  Paradise  in 
Climate,  Fertility  and  Healthfulness. — Discovery  by  Captain  Cook. — Something 
about  the  Inhabitants. — Old  times  in  Hawaii.  — A  Pen  Sketch  of  Queen  Lilioukalani, 
the  Last  of  the  Royal  Line. — The  Revolution  of  1893. — The  Plea  for  Admission 
to  the  United  States. — The  Mission  of  Senator  Blount. — The  Work  of  American 
Missionaries. — Some  Hawaiian  Superstitions  and  Amusements. — Products  and 
Commerce. — Sugar  is  to  the  Islands  what  Wheat  is  to  our  Northwest. — Honolulu, 
the  Capital  City. — A  Beautiful  and  Delightful  Resort. — On  the  Threshold  of  a 
Great  Industrial  Era. 

RIGHT  in  the  pathway  which  leads  across  the  sea,  to  the  shores 
of  our  new  possessions  gained  by  war,  appears  another  pos 
session,  obtained  through  peace,  the  Hawaiian  Islands.      Five 
years  ago  the  American  flag  which  had  been  hoisted  above  the  build 
ings  of  Honolulu,  taking  the   "  Paradise  of  the   Pacific "  under  the 
protection  of  its  folds,  was  lowered,  and  now  by  a  joint  vote  of  Con 
gress,  the  flag  has  again  been  hoisted  over  the  islands,  and  they  have 
been  formally  annexed  to  the  United  States. 

When  the  flag  was  raised  for  the  second  time  on  August  12, 
1898,  in  obedience  to  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  yth,  some  of  the 
richest,  most  fertile  and  most  valuable  of  all  of  the  islands  of  the  globe, 
became  the  property  of  our  Government.  In  climate,  fertility,  and 
healthfulness,  they  are  truly  the  "  Paradise  of  the  Pacific."  There  are 
eight  inhabited  islands  in  the  Sandwich  archipelago,  including  Hawaii, 
Maui,  Kalroolawe,  Lanai,  Molokai,  Oahu,  Kaui,  Niihau.  Alto 
gether  they  have  an  area  of  6,700  square  miles,  a  little  less  than  that 
of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  about  500  square  miles  greater  than 
the  combined  areas  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut.  They  extend 
from  northwest  to  southeast  over  a  distance  of  about  380  miles,  the 
several  islands  being  separated  by  channels  varying  in  width  from  6 

261 


262  THE  HA  W All  AN  ISLANDS 

to  60  miles.  They  lie  entirely  within  the  tropics,  not  far  from  a 
direct  line  from  San  Francisco  and  Japan,  2,089  miles  from  San 
Francisco. 

CAPTAIN    COOK    DISCOVERS    THE    ISLANDS. 

The  islands  were  first  discovered  in  January,  1778,  by  Captain 
Cook,  who  named  them  the  Sandwich  Islands  after  Lord  Sandwich, 
but  the  native  name  Hawaii,  is  more  generally  used.  There  is  good 
evidence  that  Juan  Gaetano,  in  the  year  1555,  that  is  223  years 
before  Captain  Cook's  visit,  landed  upon  their  shores.  Old  Spanish 
charts  and  the  traditions  of  the  native  bear  out  this  theory,  but  they 
were  not  made  known  to  the  world  until  Cook  visited  them.  The 
original  inhabitants  came  from  New  Zealand,  according  to  popular 
belief,  although  that  island  is  some  4,000  miles  southwest  of  them. 
The  physical  appearance  of  the  people  is  very  similar  and  their  lan 
guage  is  so  much  alike  that  a  native  Hawaiian  and  a  native  New 
Zealander,  meeting  for  the  first  time  can  carry  on  a  conversation.  Their 
ideas  of  the  Deity  and  some  of  their  religious  customs  are  nearly  the 
same.  That  the  islands  have  been  peopled  for  a  long  time  is  proven 
by  the  fact  that  human  bones  are  found  under  lava  beds  and  coral 
reefs  where  geologists  declare  they  have  lain  for  at  least  1,300  years. 

Captain  Cook's  visit  to  the  islands  was  a  notable  event,  according 
to  an  old  historian,  The  captain  was  worshiped  as  a  god  ;  the 
people  declined  to  charge  him  for  anything,  but  loaded  up  his  ship 
freely  with  the  best  productions  of  the  islands.  "  The  priests  ap 
proached  him  in  a  crouching  attitude,  offering  prayers  and  exhibiting 
all  the  formalities  of  worship.  After  approaching  him  with  prostra 
tions,  the  priests  cast  their  red  capas  over  his  shoulders  and  then 
receding  a  little  they  presented  hogs  and  a  variety  of  other  offerings, 
with  long  addresses  rapidly  enunciated  which  were  a  repetition  of 
their  prayers  and  religious  homage. 

"  When  he  went  on  shore  most  of  the  people  fled  for  fear  of  him, 
and  others  bowed  down  before  him  with  solemn  reverence.  He  was 
conducted  to  the  house  of  the  gods,  and  into  the  sacred  enclosure, 
and  receive  there  the  highest  homage.  Kalaniopuu,  the  King,  arrived 
from  Maui,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  January,  and  treated  Captain 
Cook  with  much  kindness,  giving  him  feather  coats,  and  fly  brushes 
and  paid  him  divine  honors. 


THE  DEATH  OF  CAPTAIN  COOK  263 

Describing  the  death  of  Captain  Cook,  this  historian  says  that 
Cook  had  established  a  blockade  to  stop  thieving  in  canoes.  He 
continues  :  "A  canoe  came  from  an  adjoining  district  bound  within 
the  bay.  In  the  canoe  were  two  chiefs  of  some  rank,  Kekuhaupio 
and  Kalinm  The  canoe  was  fired  upon  from  one  of  the  boats  and 
Kalimu  was  killed.  Kekuhaupio  made  the  greatest  speed  till  he 
reached  the  palace  of  the  King,  where  Captain  Cook  also  was,  and 
communicated  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  chief.  The1" 
attendants  of  the  King  were  enraged  and  showed  signs  of  hostility, 
but  were  restrained  by  the  thought  that  Captain  Cook  was  a  god. 
At  that  instant  a  warrior  with  a  spear  in  his  hand  approached  the  Cap 
tain,  and  was  heard  to  say,  that  the  boats  in  the  harbor  had  killed 
his  brother  and  he  would  be  revenged.  Cook,  from  the  warrior's 
enraged  appearance  and  that  of  the  multitude,  was  suspicious  of  him 
and  fired  upon  him  with  his  pistol.  Then  followed  a  scene  of  con 
fusion  and  in  the  midst  Captain  Cook,  being  hit  with  a  stone  and 
perceiving  the  man  who  threw  it,  shot  him  dead.  He  also  struck  a 
certain  chief  with  his  sword.  The  chief  instantly  siezed  Captain 
Cook  with  a  strong  hand  designing  merely  to  hold  him,  and  not  to 
take  his  life,  for  he  supposed  him  to  be  a  god,  and  that  he  could  not 
die.  Captain  Cook  struggled  to  free  himself  from  the  grasp  and,  as 
he  was  about  to  fall,  uttered  a  groan.  The  people  immediately  ex 
claimed,  "  He  groans, — he  is  not  a  god,"  and  instantly  slew  him. 
Such  was  the  melancholy  death  of  Captain  Cook. 

"  Immediately  the  men  in  the  boat  commenced  a  deliberate  fire 
upon  the  crowd.  They  had  refrained  in  a  measure  before  for  fear  of 
killing  their  captain.  Many  of  the  natives  were  killed.  The  body  of 
Captain  Cook  was  carried  into  the  interior  of  the  island  by  the 
natives,  the  bones  secured  according  to  their  customs,  and  the  flesh 
burned  in  the  fire. 

"  The  heart  and  liver  of  Captain  Cook  were  stolen  and  eaten  by 
some  hungry  children,  who  mistook  them  in  the  night  for  the  inwards 
of  a  dog.  Some  of  his  bones  were  sent  on  board  his  ship  in  compli 
ance  with  the  urgent  demands  of  the  officers,  and  some  were  kept  by 
the  priests  as  objects  of  worship." 

The  people  of  that  period  were  about  as  wild  and  ignorant  and 
superstitious  as  people  well  could  be.  They  numbered  at  the  time 


264  THE  PI  A  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

of  discovery  about  400,000.  Forty  years  after,  when  a  census  was 
taken,  there  were  142,000.  These  diminished  one-half  during  the 
next  fifty  years ;  and  the  native  population  of  the  islands  in  1897  was 
only  31,019.  The  total  population  by  the  last  census,  when  the 
islands  became  a  part  of  the  United  States,  was  109,020,  made  up, 
in  addition  to  the  natives  mentioned,  of  24,407  Japanese,  21,616 
Chinese,  12,191  Portuguese,  and  3,086  Americans.  The  remainder 
were  half-castes  from  foreign  intermarriage  with  the  natives,  together 
with  a  small  representation  from  England,  Germany,  and  other 
European  countries. 

A  RACE  BECOMING  EXTINCT. 

That  the  original  Hawaiians  must  soon  become  extinct  as  a  pure 
race  is  evident,  though  they  have  never  been  persecuted  or  mal 
treated.  They  are  a  handsome,  strong-looking  people,  with  a  rich, 
dark  complexion,  jet  black  eyes,  wavy  hair,  full  voluptuous  lips,  and 
teeth  of  snowy  whiteness ;  but  they  are  constitutionally  weak,  easily 
contract  and  quickly  succumb  to  disease,  and  the  only  hope  of  per 
petuating  their  blood  seems  to  lie  in  mixing  it  by  intermarriage  with 
other  races. 

Prior  to  1795  all  the  islands  had  separate  kings,  but  in  that  and 
the  following  year  the  Great  King  of  Hawaii,  Kamehameha,  with 
cannon  that  he  procured  from  Vancouver's  ships,  assaulted  and  sub 
jugated  all  the  surrounding  kings,  and  since  that  time  the  islands 
have  been  under  one  government.  Previous  to  this  the  natives  had 
been  at  war,  according  to  their  traditions,  for  three  hundred  years. 
The*fierceness  of  their  hand-to-hand  conflicts,  as  described  by  their 
historians,  has  probably  not  been  surpassed  by  those  of  any  other 
people  in  the  world. 

Kamehameha  I.  was  succeeded  by  Kamehameha  II.,  who  made 
for  himself  a  record  as  reformer.  He  broke  through  the  sacred 
priestly  law  which  prevented  a  man  from  eating  at  the  same  table 
with  his  female  relatives,  and  finally  succeeded  in  breaking  up,  to  a 
great  extent,  but  not  completely,  the  old  barbaric  rites  and  customs. 
It  was  during  his  reign  that  the  missionaries  from  this  country  first 
succeeded  in  making  headway.  The  last  Kamehameha  died  in  1872, 
leaving  one  child.  He  was  the  fourth  of  his  race,  and  is  perhaps 


A  RACE  BECOMING  EXTINCT  265 

best  remembered  by  the  reputation  of  his  Queen,  Emma,  who  became 
a  great  favorite  with  Queen  Victoria  when  she  visited  England.  She 
was  a  woman  of  lovely  character,  and  attracted  much  attention  to 
herself  and  her  people. 

On  the  King's  death  the  succession  lay  between  Prince  Lur- 
alilo,  a  grandson  of  the  original  Kamehameha  and  David  Kalakaua, 
who  was  the  son  of  a  chief  of  royal  blood.  Luralilo  was  given  the 
throne  by  a  popular  election,  but  lived  only  two  years.  He  died  in 
1874,  without  naming  a  successor,  and  Queen  Dowager  Emma 
announced  her  readiness  to  rule  over  Hawaii,  but  there  arose,  as  an 
aspirant  to  the  throne,  this  Kalakaua,  who  was  a  boatman  in  the  har 
bor  of  Honolulu,  and  who,  if  rumor  is  to  be  believed,  used  to  pick 
up  extra  money  at  night  by  playing  the  banjo  in  one  of  the  water 
front  dives.  He  was  a  descendant  of  the  old  Hawaiian  chiefs,  and 
had  a  strain  of  Kamehameha  blood  in  his  veins.  He  cast  eager 
eyes  on  the  throne,  and,  by  using  American  influence,  he  was  able  to 
secure  thirty-nine  out  of  forty-five  votes  of  the  Legislature,  which 
had  been  convened  in  extra  session  to  decide  the  matter,  and,  conse 
quently,  was  declared  King  of  the  islands,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the 
people  who  were  in  sympathy  with  Queen  Emma. 

During  his  reign  the  Government  of  Hawaii  entered  into  vari 
ous  negotiations  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States  which 
resulted  in  a  treaty  of  reciprocity  being  established  in  1876.  By  this 
treaty  rice  and  the  lower  grades  of  sugar  were  admitted  duty  free 
into  the  United  States.  This  was  of  an  immense  advantage  to 
Hawaii  during  the  period  in  which  the  tax  on  sugar  was  unusually 
high  in  this  country,  and  she  was  able  to  realize  $45  or  $50  per  ton 
more  than  any  other  on  her  sugar.  This  was  instrumental  in  draw- 
ing  American  capital  and  American  people  to  the  colony,  and  they 
began  immediately  to  take  a  controlling  position  in  the  political  and 
social  affairs  of  the  islands. 

In  1887,  under  President  Cleveland's  first  administration,  addi 
tional  provisions  were  made  to  the  treaty  and  its  time  lengthened,  in 
return  for  which  the  King  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  exclusive 
right  to  establish  and  fortify  a  naval  station  on  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 
Pearl  Harbor  was  designated  as  the  station;  but  in  1889  Secretary 
of  the  State,  James  G.  Elaine,  dissatisfied  with  the  imperfect  cessions 


266  THE  HA  W All  AN  ISLANDS 

of  this  harbor,  as  well  as  with  the  general  status  of  affairs  between 
our  country  and  Hawaii,  urged  upon  the  Hawaiian  Minister  at  Wash 
ington,  H.  A.  P.  Carter,  an  enlargement  of  the  treaty  provisions.  It 
was  proposed  to  make  the  treaty  permanent,  to  create  absolute  free 
trade  between  the  two  countries  in  all  articles  except  intoxicants,  to 
make  the  cessation  of  a  naval  station  permanent  as  well  as  exclusive, 
and  to  pledge  to  Hawaii  full  participation  in  any  bounties  to  be  given 
American  producers  of  sugar.  In  short,  Hawaii,  in  all  its  commer 
cial  and  productive  interests,  was  to  enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  one 
of  the  United  States.  In  return,  besides  the  cession  of  Pearl  Har 
bor,  Mr.  Elaine  asked  a  pledge  of  Hawaii  to  enter  into  no  treaty 
engagement  with  other  powers  without  the  full  consent  of  the 
United  States. 

Canada,  however,  put  its  finger  in  the  pie,  and  so  worked  upon 
King  Kalakaua  that  he  rejected  the  treaty,  and  before  another  could 
be  made,  he  died.  Queen  Liliuokalani,  his  sister,  ascended  the  throne, 
and  made  immediate  provision  for  her  succesor.  As  she  had  no  chil 
dren  of  her  own,  there  was,  of  course,  no  direct  heir  to  the  crown, 
but  she  announced  that  the  heir  to  the  crown  would  be  Princess 
Kaiulani,  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  cultured,  and  fascinating  of  the 
children  of  the  islands.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Honorable  Archi 
bald  Cleghorn,  an  Englishman,  who  was  the  Governor  of  the  Island  of 
Oahu,  and  Princess  Likelike.  But,  as  fate  would  have  it,  this  beauti 
ful  Hawaiian  never  ruled  in  Hawaii ;  she  died  early  in  March,  1899. 

Queen  Liliuokalani  had  not  only  inherited  a  throne,  but  she  had 
inherited  the  discontent  of  a  people  who  had  been  imposed  upon 
by  Kalakaua.  He  had  shown  himself  a  great  champion  of  his  own 
people,  but  a  great  foe  to  foreigners,  and,  as  the  latter  were  the  most 
powerful  and  richest  of  the  dwellers  upon  the  islands,  he  laid  up 
trouble,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his  successor.  He  was  a  great 
seeker  after  personal  power,  and  used  every  means  possible  to  sur 
round  himself  with  subservient  officeholders.  Through  his  follies,  in 
the  seven  years  up  to  1887,  the  national  debt  grew  from  $389,000  to 
$1,936,000.  Finally  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse,  until  an  open 
revolt  was  precipitated  by  his  accepting  two  bribes,  one  of  $80,000, 
the  other  of  $75,000,  for  which  he  gave  the  same  exclusive  privileges 
in  the  opium  traffic  to  each  of  two  rival  bidders. 


A  RACE  BECOMING  EXTINCT  267 

Immediately  there  was  an  uprising  of  such  magnitude  that  it 
took  the  King's  breath.  The  foreigners  organized  a  united  move 
ment  for  reform,  and  they  secured  concessions  which  took  all  the  real 
power  away  from  the  King  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  a  cabinet, 
subject  only  to  the  Legislature. 

In  1889  Robert  W.  Wilcox  headed  a  revolution  against  the 
methods  employed  by  the  King.  He  was  a  full-blooded  Hawaiian, 
and  he  protested  not  only  against  the  King's  extravagance,  but  the 
way  in  which  in  his  later  years  he  allowed  the  Government  affairs  to 
be  dictated  practically  by  the  business  men  of  other  countries.  His 
uprising  was  not  a  success.  He  seized  the  military  school,  the  palace 
yard  and  the  Government  house,  but  the  movement  was  suppressed 
within  a  few  hours. 

When  the  Queen  took  her  seat  she  insisted  on  her  right  to 
appoint  a  Cabinet  of  her  own.  This  right  was  granted  her,  and  for 
some  time  she  lived  up  to  the  Constitution  which  the  previous  King 
had  signed. 

Later,  however,  she  made  up  her  mind  to  take  matters  into  her 
own  hands  and  again  turn  the  Government  into  a  personal  one.  In 
1892  there  was  a  Legislative  session  which  was  protracted  over  a 
space  of  eight  months,  chiefly  through  her  desire  to  get  matters  into 
her  own  control.  Opium  and  lottery  bills  were  championed  by  her, 
which  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  arouse  violent  opposition.  But  the 
final  crash  came  later.  The  Queen  had  a  Constitution  drawn  up 
which  would  have  had  the  effect  of  making  her  absolute  monarch  of 
the  islands,  and  would  have  disfranchised  a  class  of  citizens  who  paid 
a  large  proportion  of  the  taxes  to  the  Government.  She  attempted  to 
promulgate  this  new  Constitution  on  January  I4th.  The  matter  had 
been  ready  for  two  weeks  previous  to  that,  and  in  expectation  of  it  a 
large  crowd  of  Hawaiians  had  assembled  around  the  palace  gates 
and  in  the  grounds.  Natives  were  also  gathered  in  large  groups  in 
the  Government  building  yard  and  elsewhere  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  Queen  retired  to  the  blue  room  and  summoned  her  minis 
ters.  She  was  seated  at  a  table  dressed  in  a  magnificent  costume 
with  a  sparkling  coronet  of  diamonds.  She  presented  the  ministers 
upon  their  arrival  with  a  draft  of  the  new  Constitution,  demanding 
their  signatures,  and  declaring  her  intention  of  promulgating  the 


268  THE  HA  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

document  immediately.  Two  of  the  ministers  refused  to  accede  to 
her  wishes,  and  somewhat  hesitatingly  the  others  joined  in  the 
refusal.  They  urged  Her  Majesty  not  to  violate  the  law,  but  she 
was  not  to  be  dissuaded  from  her  revolutionary  course. 

Bringing  her  clenched  hand  down  upon  the  table,  the  Queen 
said :  "  Gentlemen,  I  do  not  wish  to  hear  any  more  advice.  I  intend 
to  promulgate  this  Constitution,  and  to  do  it  now."  Then  she  told 
her  Cabinet  that  unless  they  abandoned  their  resistance  at  once  she 
would  go  out  upon  the  steps  of  the  palace  and  tell  the  excited  crowd 
that  she  wished  to  give  them  a  new  Constitution,  but  the  ministers 
were  preventing  her  from  doing  it.  Remembering  a  previous  riot, 
and  the  fate  of  the  unlucky  men  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  insur 
gents,  and  knowing  that  the  Queen  had  prepared  just  such  a  trap  for 
them,  the  ministers  fled  before  her  threat  could  be  put  into  execution. 

From  the  Government  building  they  sent  word  all  around  town 
asking  citizens  what  support  could  be  expected  to  resist  the  revolu 
tionary  movement  begun  by  the  Queen.  There  was  but  one  opinion, 
and  all  joined  together  to  support  the  law  and  the  liberties  of  the 
people.  When  this  was  learned,  great  pressure  was  brought  upon  the 
Queen  to  retrace  the  steps  she  had  already  taken.  While  her  troops 
stood  drawn  up  before  the  palace  waiting  for  the  final  word  of  com 
mand,  the  Queen  hesitated.  There  was  another  conference  which 
lasted  for  a  long  time,  and  finally,  although  she  could  not  be  per 
suaded  to  give  up  her  plan,  the  Queen  consented  with  bitter  reluc 
tance  to  a  postponement.  She  was  a  very  angry  woman  when  later 
she  entered  the  throne  room  where  were  assembled  the  leading  men 
of  her  rule,  but  she  announced  publicly  that  the  new  Government 
would  not  yet  be  declared. 

A    PROCLAMATION. 

Knowing  that  the  Queen  would  eventually  carry  out  her  plans, 
the  foreign  element  in  the  community  called  a  mass  meeting  and 
appointed  a  committee  of  public  safety,  which  issued  a  proclamation 
stating  that :  "  It  is  firmly  believed  that  the  culminating,  revolutionary 
attempt  of  last  Saturday  will,  unless  radical  measures  are  taken, 
wreck  our  already  damaged  credit  abroad  and  precipitate  to  final 
ruin  our  already  overstrained  financial  condition,  and  guarantees  of 


A  PROCLAMATION  269 

protection  to  life,  liberty  and  property  will  steadily  decrease.  The 
political  situation  is  rapidly  growing  worse.  In  this  belief,  and  also 
in  the  belief  that  the  action  hereby  taken  is  and  will  be  for  the  best 
personal,  political  and  property  interests  of  every  citizen  of  the  land, 
we,  citizens  and  residents  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  organized  and  act 
ing  for  public  safety  and  common  good,  hereby  proclaim  as  follows  : 

"The  Hawaiian  monarchical  system  of  Government  is  hereby 
abrogated.  Provisional  Government  for  the  control  and  management 
of  public  affairs  and  the  protection  of  public  peace  is  hereby  estab 
lished,  to  exist  until  terms  of  union  with  the  United  States  of  America 
have  been  negotiated  and  agreed  upon.  Such  Provisional  Govern 
ment  shall  consist  of  an  Executive  Council  of  four  members,  who  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  S.  B.  Dole,  J.  A.  King,  P.  C.  Jones,  and  W. 
O.  Smith,  who  shall  administer  the  Government  of  the  islands,  the 
first  named  acting  as  President  and  Chairman  of  such  Council, 
administering  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  others  sev 
erally  administering  the  Departments  of  Interior,  Finance  and  Attor 
ney-General,  respectively,  in  the  order  in  which  enumerated,  accord 
ing  to  the  existing  Hawaiian  law,  as  far  as  may  be  consistent  with 
this  proclamation  and  also  of  an  Advisory  Council,  which  shall  con 
sist  of  fourteen  members,  who  are  hereby  declared  to  be  S.  D.  Damon, 
A.  Brown,  L.  A.  Thurston,  J.  F.  Morgan,  E.  Emmelsmith,  H.  Water- 
house,  J.  A.  McCandless,  E.  D.  Tenny,  F.  W.  McChesney,  F.  Wil- 
helm,  W.  R.  Castle,  W.  G.  Ashley,  W.  C.  Wilder,  and  C.  Bolte. 
Such  Advisory  Council  shall  also  have  general  legislative  authority. 
Such  Executive  and  Advisory  Councils  shall,  acting  jointly,  have 
power  to  remove  any  member  of  either  Council,  and  to  fill  such  or 
any  other  vacancy. 

"  All  officers  under  the  existing  Government  are  hereby  requested 
to  continue  to  exercise  their  functions  and  perform  the  duties  of  their 
respective  offices  excepting  the  following  named  persons  :  Queen 
Liliuokalani,  Charles  B.  Wilson,  Marshal ;  Samuel  Parker,  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  ;  W.  II.  Cornwell,  Minister  of  Finance;  John  F. 
Colburn,  Minister  of  Interior;  Arthur  P.  Peterson,  Attorney-General, 
who  are  hereby  removed  from  office.  All  Hawaiian  laws  and  con 
stitutional  principles  not  inconsistent  herewith  shall  continue  in 


2/0  THE  HA  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

force  until  further  order  of   the  Executive   and  Advisory  Councils. 
HENRY  E.  COOPER,  J.  A.  MCCANDLESS, 

ANDREW  BROWN,  THEODORE  F.  LANSING, 

JOHN  EMMELSMITH,  C.  BOLTE, 

EDWARD  SUHR,  HENRY  WATERHOUSE, 

W.  C.  WILDER,  F,  W.  MCCHESNEY, 

WILLIAM  O.  SMITH." 

The  following  day,  the  Provisional  Government  was  organized, 
and  at  once  issued  a  proclamation  reciting  the  arrogance  of  the 
Queen,  enumerating  the  broken  promises  of  Her  Majesty  and  detail 
ing  the  wrongs  inflicted  on  the  residents  and  property. 

The  new  Government  called  on  volunteers,  who  assembled, 
armed,  to  the  number  of  500.  The  old  Government  surrendered 
without  striking  a  blow,  although  it  had  about  400  men  under  arms 
and  a  battery  of  Gatling  guns.  The  Provisional  Government  then 
notified  the  representatives  of  foreign  Governments  of  the  change, 
and  asked  recognition.  It  was  at  once  granted  by  all  the  powers 
except  England. 

The  Government  assumed  formal  control  of  the  palace  and 
barracks.  The  Ex-Queen  retired  to  her  private  residence  at  Wash 
ington  Place,  and  the  Government  granted  her  an  honorary  guard  of 
1 6  men.  The  household  guards  were  paid  off  to  February  ist,  and 
disbanded.  A  strong  force  of  volunteers  took  possession,  and  is  now 
in  charge  of  the  palace,  the  barracks,  the  police  headquarters  and 
other  Government  buildings. 

At  the  headquarters  the  work  of  military  organization  was 
pushed  rapidly  forward,  and  volunteers  continued  to  pour  in  steadily 
from  all  quarters.  The  Provisional  Government  spent  a  large  part 
of  the  night  in  perfecting  its  organization  and  adjusting  the  wheels 
of  Government  to  changed  order.  In  the  meantime  the  ordinary 
routine  work  of  the  Government  was  going  ahead  with  but  little  break. 
The  Hawaiian  steamer  Claudine  was  chartered,  and  left  Honolulu  on 
the  morning  of  Wednesday,  January  iQth,  four  days  after  the  revolt, 
with  five  commissioners  aboard  instructed  to  proceed  to  Washington, 
and  negotiate  a  treaty  of  annexation.  The  commissioners  were  Lorrin 
A.  Thurston,  William  C.  Wilder,  William  R.  Caset,  Charles  L. 
Carter  and  Joseph  Marsden. 


PROTESJ^  OF  THE  QUEEN  271 

During  the  critical  time,  just  as  the  reformers  were  about  to 
sieze  the  throne,  the  United  States  warship  Boston  arrived  unex 
pectedly  and  landed  marines  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of 
Americans  on  the  island.  This  turned  out  to  be  an  important  event 
in  the  subsequent  history  of  the  islands,  for  President  Cleveland  used 
it  against  the  new  Government.  The  deposed  Queen  openly  charged 
that  these  troops  were  part  of  a  conspiracy  against  her.  In  the  pro 
clamation  issued  when  she  was  deposed,  she  said  : 

"  I,  Liliuokalani,  by  grace  of  God,  and  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  Hawaiian  Kingdom  Queen,  do  hereby  solemnly  protest  any  and 
all  acts  done  against  myself  and  the  Constitutional  Government  of 
the  Hawaiian  Kingdom,  by  certain  persons  claiming  to  have  estab 
lished  a  Provisional  Government  of  and  for  this  Kingdom  ;  that  I 
yield  to  the  superior  force  of  the  United  States  of  America,  whose 
Minister  Plenipotentiary,  His  Excellency  John  L.  Stevens,  has  caused 
United  States  troops  to  be  landed  at  Honolulu,  and  declared  that 
he  would  support  the  said  Government. 

"  Now,  to  avoid  any  collision  of  armed  forces  and  perhaps  loss 
of  life,  I  do  under  this  protest  and  impelled  by  said  force,  yield  my 
authority  until  such  time  as  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
shall,  upon  facts  being  presented  to  it,  under  the  action  of  its  repre 
sentative  reinstate  me  in  the  authority  which  I  claim  as  constitu 
tional  sovereign  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Done  at  Honolulu,  this  iyth  day  of  January,  A.D.,  1893. 
(Signed)  LILIUOKALANI." 

United  States  Minister  Stevens  immediately  recognized  the 
new  Government  in  the  following  communication  : 

"  To  S.  B.  Dole,  Esq.,  and  others,  composing  the  Provisional 
Government  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  :  A  Provisional  Government 
having  been  duly  constituted  in  place  of  the  recent  Government  of 
Queen  Liliuokalani,  and  the  said  Provisional  Government  being  in 
full  possession  of  the  Government  buildings,  archives  and  treasury, 
and  in  control  of  the  capital  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  I  hereby  recog 
nize  said  Provisional  Government  as  the  de  facto  Government  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  JOHN  L.  STEVENS, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States" 


272  THE  HA  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

When  the  matter  officially  reached  our  Government,  a  treaty  of 
annexation  was  negotiated  by  President  Harrison,  and  was  sent  to 
the  Senate  for  confirmation,  but  was  not  passed  before  that  body 
adjourned. 

The  election  of  President  Cleveland  put  a  new  phase  on  the 
subject  for  he  did  not  take  the  same  view  of  the  question  as  did  his 
predecessor.  It  seemed  to  him  that  the  protectorate  established  on 
the  islands,  and  the  control  of  the  reform  Government  had  been  the 
result  of  conspiracy  in  which  our  own  consul  and  the  captain  of  the 
Boston  had  played  a  conspicuous  part.  Even  before  his  inauguration 
he  started  an  investigation  into  the  matter,  and  one  of  the  first  things 
he  did  after  he  entered  the  White  House  was  to  withdraw  the  treaty 
which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate,  and  to  send  the  Hon. 
James  H.  Blount,  of  Georgia,  to  the  islands  with  instructions  to 
investigate  the  whole  affair.  Such  were  Mr.  Blount's  powers  that  he 
was  ever  known  afterward  as  "  Paramount  "  Blount.  He  had  been 
in  Honolulu  but  two  days,  when  he  ordered  the  American  flag  hauled 
down  from  the  Government  building  where  it  was  flying  and 
ordered  the  marines,  which  were  doing  duty  there  to  return  on 
board  the  Boston,  and  other  ships  to  which  they  belonged.  He 
immediately  took  a  position  which  was  higher  in  authority  than 
either  the  naval  officers  there,  or  the  American  Minister.  He  started 
to  take  a  testimony,  but  according  to  the  unprejudiced  mind  it  seems 
to  have  been  testimony  chiefly  of  the  people  allied  to  the  deposed 
Queen,  and  was  filled  with  perversions  of  facts  which  are  well  known, 
and  was  not  at  all  convincing. 

His  report,  however,  was  accepted  by  President  Cleveland  with 
out  more  ado,  and  the  latter  sought  to  restore  the  Queen  to  her 
throne.  Here,  however,  he  met  with  an  unexpected  difficulty.  One 
of  the  conditions  which  he  laid  before  the  Queen  was  that,  when  the 
throne  should  be  restored  to  her,  she  should  not  punish  the  officers 
of  the  Provisional  Government  and  the  leaders  of  the  revolution. 
This  she  bitterly  refused  to  accede  to,  demanding  that  it  was  her  right 
not  only  to  confiscate  the  property  of  the  people  who  sought  her 
crown,  but  to  behead  them  as  well.  This  gave  Mr.  Cleveland  a  bet 
ter  idea  than  he  had  had  before  of  the  blood-thirstiness  of  Queen 
"  Lil",  and,  even  though  she  agreed  finally  to  forego  the  pleasure  of 


THE  BIRTH  OF  A  NEW  REPUBLIC 


273 


chopping"  off  the  heads  of  her  foes,  it  was  done  in  such  a  way  that 
the  United  States,  through  its  Minister,  merely  went  through  the 
formality  of  requesting  the  Provisional  Government  to  vacate,  and, 
when  the  latter  declined  to  do  so,  the  whole  matter  was  dropped,  and 
the  incident  was  declared  closed. 

Owing  to  President  Cleveland's  feeling  on  the  subject,  no  efforts 
were  made  during  his  Administration  to  push  the  annexation  of  the 
islands,  and,  consequently,  the  Provisional  Government  began  to 
strengthen  itself,  and  to  look  forward  to  becoming  a  permanent  one. 
For  that  purpose  a  constitutional  convention  was  called,  which  met 
on  May  2oth,  and  it  continued  in  session  until  July  3d.  On  July  4, 
1894,  the  Constitution  of  the  new  Republic  of  Hawaii  was  pro 
claimed,  and  Sanford  B.  Dole  was  elected  the  first  President  of  the 
Republic,  the  same  position  which  he  occupied  in  the  Provisional 
Government.  And  so,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  the 
greatest  of  all  republics,  there  was  born  on  this  island,  in  the  midst 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  a  new  republic,  which  was  destined  to  become 
a  territorial  part  of  the  United  States. 

But,  although  the  islands  and  their  throne  had  passed  from 
beneath  the  sway  of  the  dusky  Queen  "  Lil"  and  the  beautiful  Kaiulani, 
they  were  not  content  to  allow  themselves  to  be  deposed  without  at 
least  a  protest ;  so  both  the  Queen  and  her  niece  visited  this  country 
with  a  view  to  enlisting  the  sympathies  of  President  Cleveland  and 
of  the  Senators  and  Representatives,  who  were  to  pass  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  what  was  to  become  of  the  islands  in  the  future. 

The  Princess  Kaiulani  was  received  everywhere  with  open  arms. 
Her  beauty,  her  culture,  her  grace  and  tact  won  for  her  hosts  of 
friends  wherever  she  appeared.  Her  journey  was  a  series  of  social 
ovations.  Not  so  with  the  Queen.  She  created  but  little  stir,  and 
outside  of  the  newspaper  cartoons  which  ridiculed  her,  and  the  frigid 
reception  accorded  her  by  Mr.  Cleveland,  she  had  but  little  attention 
paid  her  during  her  visit.  Her  reputation  had  preceded  her,  and 
though  she  stayed  for  a  long  time  lobbying  against  the  annexation  of 
the  islands  to  the  United  States,  she  finally  left,  unsuccessful  and  dis 
consolate. 

On  June  15,1 898,  by  a  vote  of  209  to  9 1 ,  the  bill  providing  for  the 
annexation  of  Hawaii  passed  the  House;  and  July  7th,  the  Senate 


THE  HA  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

passed  the  same  resolution  by  a  vote  of  42  to  21,  and  President  Mc- 
Kinley  immediately  signed  it.  The  measure  brought  forth  one  of  the 
most  spirited  debates  ever  known  in  the  halls  of  the  Legislature,  inas 
much  as  it  was  the  first  step  of  our  Government,  outside  of  the  domain 
which  it  had  set  down  for  itself,  the  first  Congressional  act  of  expan 
sion.  These  resolutions  declared  that  the  islands  were  thereby 
annexed  to  the  United  States,  and  provided  for  five  Commissioners, 
two  at  least  of  whom  are  to  be  residents  of  Hawaii,  who  should 
recommend  such  legislation  to  Congress  as  they  thought  advisable. 
The  United  States  assumed  the  Hawaiian  debt  up  to  $4,000,000; 
Chinese  immigration  was  prohibited  ;  the  treaties  existing  between 
Hawaii  and  the  other  powers  were  declared  void  ;  all  civil,  judicial, 
and  military  powers  exercised  by  the  officers  of  the  Hawaiian  Repub 
lic  were  to  be  exercised  according  to  the  directions  of  the  President, 
and  that  officer  was  given  power  to  appoint  those  who  are  to  put  in 
effect  the  Provisional  Government  of  the  islands.  And  so,  on  August 
12,  1898,  the  flag  of  Hawaii  was  hauled  down  forever,  and  the  new 
Republic  began  its  life  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

The  American  flag  was  raised  above  the  Government  Building 
with  due  solemnity,  at  which  American  marines  and  sailors  from  the 
United  States  vessels  Philadelphia  and  Mohican  attended.  Shortly 
before  12  o'clock  President  Dole,  attended  by  his  Cabinet  and  Chief 
Justice  Judd,  arrived,  and  was  joined  by  Minister  Sewall,  Admiral 
Miller  and  members  of  the  Legislature  and  the  Diplomatic  Corps. 
There,  on  behalf  of  the  Government  of  Hawaii,  President  Dole 
transferred  the  islands  to  the  care  of  the  United  States,  and,  as  the 
last  salute  to  the  old  Government  died  away,  and  the  flag  that  had 
floated  for  years  over  the  islands  was  hauled  down,  the  Hawaiian 
national  anthem  gave  way  to  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and  the 
American  flag  was  raised,  while  salute  after  salute  greeted  it. 

Thus  ended  the  hopes  of  Queen  Liliuokalani,  and  the  still  greater 
hopes  for  the  far  future  of  the  beautiful  Princess  Kaiulani  for  the 
crown  which  she  was  never  to  wear;  but  that  the  good  of  Hawaii 
was  conserved, -cannot  be  doubted.  Neither  of  them  attended  the 
ceremony ;  the  latter,  with  her  eyes  filled  with  tears,  sat  alone  at  her 
own  home  and  passed  through  the  bitterest  moments  of  her  life, 
denying  herself  friends  and  comforters. 


HA  WAI  I  AN  BANQUET  275 

President  McKinley,  under  the  terms  of  the  resolution  which 
annexed  Hawaii,  appointed  as  Commissioners  to  visit  the  islands  Sena 
tor  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  of  Illinois ;  Senator  John  T.  Morgan,  of 
Alabama;  Representative  Robert  R.  Hitt,  of  Illinois;  President 
Sanford  B.  Dole,  of  Hawaii ;  and  Justice  W.  F.  Frear,  of  the 
Hawaiian  Supreme  Court.  They  visited  the  islands  in  August  in 
order  to  formulate  a  plan  for  the  Government.  The  bill  which  they 
formulated  and  presented  to  Congress  provided  for  the  government 
of  Hawaii  as  a  territory.  Provision  was  made  for  a  legislature  of 
two  houses,  and  the  people  were  practically  allowed  to  govern  them 
selves  according  to  the  rules  of  the  other  territories  of  the  United 

o 

States.  And  so  this  possession  of  peace,  which  came  to  the  United 
States  in  time  of  war,  begins  a  new  era  of  prosperity. 

All  of  the  American  troops  who  have  gone  to  Manila  are  enthu 
siastic  about  Hawaii.  It  was  the  first  stop  which  they  had  on  their 
long  voyage  halfway  around  the  world,  and  when  they  reached  it 
the  weather  was  as  delightful  and  the  islands  as  beautiful  as  anyone 
could  wish.  The  men  stopped  for  a  little  breathing  time  there,  and 
it  proved  a  time  of  delight  to  those  who  visited  these  shores  for 
the  first  time.  The  beauties  of  Honolulu,  its  civilization,  the  culture 
and  refinement  of  many  of  the  people,  the  richness  of  the  coloring  of 
flowers  and  foliage,  and  the  novelty  of  everything  that  met  their 
sight  shattered  all  their  former  belief  that  Hawaii  was  an  unknown, 
uncivilized  land. 

The  Astor  Battery  boys  were  particularly  enthusiastic  about  the 
reception  they  received.  Everywhere  they  met  with  an  ovation,  as 
indeed  did  all  the  troops  of  Uncle  Sam,  and  they  were  entertained 
by  some  of  the  residents  of  the  place  at  a  native  dinner.  This  func 
tion  is  one  that  will  long  live  in  the  minds  of  those  who  enjoyed  it 
for  the  first  time.  A  member  of  the  Astor  Battery  tells  of  such  a 
dinner  which  he  attended,  and  at  which  Princess  Kaiulani  was  present. 
He  says:  ''The  guests  sat  on  the  floor  facing  each  other,  and  the 
good  things,  from  a  Hawaiian  point  of  view,  were  placed  on  the  floor 
before  them.  There  were  no  courses,  but  in  eating  one  helped  him 
self,  and  then  passed  the  dish  on  to  the  next  neighbor,  who  in  turn 
helped  it  circulate  around  the  company.  One  of  the  dishes  was  the 
favorite  Honolulu  dish  called  "  Poi,"  which  was  served  in  a  bowl,  and 


2/6  777^  HA  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

each  guest  helped  himself  with  his  fingers.  This  was  all  right  for 
the  first  one,  but  when  one  was  seated  at  the  other  end,  unless  he 
was  used  to  the  habit,  or  had  a  soldier's  appetite,  or  had  had  assur 
ances  that  the  others  had  washed  their  hands,  he  was  likely  not  to 
relish  this  dainty  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

"  I  was  very  much  surprised  with  the  appearance  of  Princess 
Kaiulani.  I  had  read  of  her  in  the  papers,  but  was  not  prepared  to 
find  a  woman  of  such  rare  intelligence  and  refinement  as  she  proved 
to  be.  She  is  extremely  fascinating,  and  came  dressed  in  the  fashion 
peculiar  to  the  high  class  members  of  Hawaiian  royalty.  Around  her 
throat  she  wore  a  necklace  which  might  more  strictly  be  called  a  boa. 
It  was  a  magnificent  piece  of  art  and  had  been  in  her  family  for  gen 
erations.  It  was  made  entirely  of  feathers,  each  feather  of  which  had 
been  separately  plucked  from  beneath  the  wing  of  one  bird  of  a  rare 
native  species,  after  which  the  bird  was  killed.  It  took  years  to  com 
plete  this  necklace,  and  thousands  of  birds  were  sacrificed  in  its 
making. 

"  The  Princess  spoke  English  fluently,  also  French,  and,  in  fact, 
any  of  the  languages  which  her  guests  were  able  to  speak.  She  was 
very  bright  and  vivacious,  and  gave  no  symptom  of  not  being  in  the 
best  of  health." 

This  last  remark  was  apropos  of  the  sad  news  that  recently  came 
from  Honolulu  that  the  lovely  Princess  passed  away  in  the  early  part 
of  March,  1899,  and  was  buried  with  all  possible  ceremonies  on  the 
i  2th  of  the  same  month. 

The  manners  and  customs  of  the  native  Hawaiians  are  most 
interesting,  but  space  forbids  a  description  of  them  here.  Their 
religion  was  a  gross  form  of  idolatry,  with  many  gocls.  Human  sac 
rifice  was  freely  practiced.  They  deified  dead  chiefs  and  worshiped 
their  bones.  The  great  king,  Kamehameha  I.,  though  an  idolater, 
was  a  most  progressive  monarch,  and  invited  Vancouver,  who  went 
there  in  1 794,  taking  swine,  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses,  together  with 
oranges  and  other  valuable  plants,  to  bring  over  teachers  and  mission 
aries  to  teach  his  people  "the  white  man's  religion." 

But  it  was  not  until  1820,  after  the  death  of  the  great  King,  that 
the  first  missionaries  arrived,  and  they  came  from  America.  The 
year  previous,  in  1819,  Kamehameha  II.  had  destroyed  many  of  the 


CHURCH    IN    HONOLULU,    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS. 

Built  of  lava  stone.    Seating  capacity  about  3000. 


SUGAR  CANE   PLANTATION,    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS. 

About  one-fifth  of  the  entire  population  is  engaged  in  sugar  culture.     The  average  product  is  about  three  tons  per  acre. 


THE  WORK  OF  AMERICAN  MISSIONARIES  279 

temples  and  idols  and  forbidden  idol  worship  in  the  islands  ;  conse 
quently,  when  the  missionaries  arrived,  they  beheld  the  unprecedented 
spectacle  of  a  nation  without  a  religion.  The  natives  were  rapidly 
converted  to  Christianity.  It  was  these  American  missionaries  who 
first  reduced  the  Hawaiian  language  to  writing,  established  schools 
and  taught  the  natives.  As  a  result  of  their  work,  the  Hawaiians  are 
among  the  most  generally  educated  people,  in  the  elementary  sense,  in 
the  world.  There  is  hardly  a  person  in  the  islands,  above  the  age  of 
eight  years,  who  cannot  read  and  write.  In  spite  of  education,  how 
ever,  many  of  the  ancient  superstitions  still  exist,  and  some  of  the  old 
stone  temples  are  yet  standing.  What  the  United  States  will  do  with 
these  heathen  temples  remains  to  be  seen.  The  natives  revere  them 
as  relics  of  their  savage  history,  and  as  such  they  may  be  preserved. 
Aside  from  the  horrors  of  superstitions,  the  Hawaiians  lead  a 
happy  life,  full  of  amusements  of  various  kinds  on  the  land  and  water 
—for  Hawaiian  men,  women  and  children  live  much  of  their  time  in 
the  water.  Infants  are  often  taught  the  art  of  swimming  before  they 
can  walk.  The  surf  riding  or  swimming  of  the  natives  astonished 
Captain  Cook  more  than  any  of  their  remarkable  performances.  The 
time  selected  was  when  a  storm  was  tossing  the  waves  high  and  the 
surf  was  furious.  Then  the  men  and  women  would  dive  through  the 
surf,  with  narrow  boards  about  nine  inches  wide  and  eight  feet  long, 
and,  swimming  a  mile  or  more  out  to  sea,  mount  on  the  crest  of  a 
huge  billow,  and  sitting,  kneeling  or  standing,  with  wild  gesticulations 
ride  over  the  waves  and  breakers  like  gods  or  demons  of  the  storm. 
This  practice  is  less  indulged  now  than  formerly.  But  the  swimming 
of  the  Kanaka  boys,  who  flock  around  incoming  steamers,  and  dive 
after  and  catch  coins  which  tourists  throw  into  the  water,  like  so 
many  ducks  diving  after  corn,  shows  what  a  degree  of  perfection  the 
natatorial  art  has  attained  among  the  native  Hawaiians.  Sledging 
down  the  mountain  sides,  boxing  and  tournament  riding  are  other 
popular  amusements  ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  boxing,  the  women 
compete  with  the  men  in  the  amusements. 

PRODUCTS    AND    COMMERCE. 

Sugar  is  king  in  Hawaii  as  wheat  is  in  the  Northwest.      In  1890 
there  were  19,000  laborers — nearly  one-fifth  of  the  total  population— 


280  THE  HA  WAIIAN  ISLANDS 

engaged  on  sugar  plantations.  Ten  tons  to  the  acre  have  been 
raised  on  the  richest  lands.  The  average  is  over  three  tons  per  acre, 
but  it  requires  from  eighteen  to  twenty  months  for  a  crop  to  mature. 
Rice  growing  is  also  an  important  industry.  It  is  raised  in  marsh 
lands,  and  nearly  all  the  labor  is  clone  by  Chinese,  though  they  do 
not  own  the  land.  Coffee  is  happily  well  suited  to  the  soil  that  is  un 
fitted  for  sugar  and  rice,  and  the  Hawaiian  coffee  is  particularly  fine, 
combining  the  strength  of  the  Java  with  a  delicate  flavor  of  its  own. 
Diversified  farming  is  coming  more  into  voooie.  Fruit  raising 

o  o  o  o 

will  undoubtedly  become  one  of  the  most  important  branches  when 
fast  steamers  are  provided  for  its  transportation.  Sheep  and  cattle 
raising  must  also  prove  profitable,  since  the  animals  require  little 
feeding  and  need  no  housing. 

Almost  all  kinds  of  vegetables  and  fruits  can  be  raised,  many 
of  those  belonging  to  the  temperate  zones  thriving  on  the  elevated 
mountain  slopes.  Fruit  is  abundant  ;  the  guava  grows  wild  in  all  the 
islands,  and  were  the  manufacture  of  jelly  made  from  it  carried  on 
on  a  large  scale  the  product  could  doubtless  be  exported  with  profit. 
Both  bananas  and  pineapples  are  prolific,  and  there  are  many  fruits 
and  vegetables,  which  as  yet  have  been  raised  only  for  local  trade, 
which  would,  if  cultivated  for  export,  bring  in  rich  returns. 

Of  the  total  exports  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  1895,  the 
United  States  received  99.04  per  cent.,  and  in  the  same  year  79.04 
per  cent,  of  the  imports  to  the  islands  were  from  the  United  States. 
The  total  value  of  the  sugar  sent  to  the  United  States  in  1896,  was 
$14,932,010;  of  rice,  $194,903;  of  coffee,  $45444;  and  of  bananas, 
$121,273. 

THE    CHIEF    CITY. 

Honolulu,  the  capital  city,  is  to  Hawaii  what  Havana  is  to 
Cuba,  or  better,  what  Manila  is  to  the  Philippine  Islands.  Here  are 
concentrated  the  business,  political  and  social  forces  that  control  the 
life  and  progress  of  the  entire  archipelago.  This  city  of  30,000  in 
habitants  is  situated  on  the  south  coast  of  Oahu,  and  extends  up  the 
Nuuanu  Valley.  It  is  well  provided  with  street-car  lines — which  also 
run  to  a  bathing  resort  four  miles  outside  the  city — a  telephone  sys 
tem,  electric  lights,  numerous  stores,  churches  and  schools,  a  library 
of  over  10,000  volumes,  and  frequent  steam  communication  with  San 


THE  CHIEF  CITY  281 

Francisco.  There  are  papers  published  in  the  English,  Hawaiian, 
Portuguese,  Japanese,,  and  Chinese  languages,  and  a  railroad  is  being 
built,  of  which  thirty  miles  along  the  coast  are  already  completed. 
Honolulu  has  also  a  well-equipped  fire  department  and  public  water 
works.  The  residence  portions  of  the  city  are  well  laid  out,  the 
houses,  many  of  which  are  very  handsome,  being  surrounded  by 
gardens  kept  green  throughout  the  year.  The  climate  is  mild  and 
even,  and  the  city  is  a  delightful  and  a  beautiful  place  of  residence. 
Hawaii  is  peculiarly  an  agricultural  country,  and  Honolulu  gains  its 
importance  solely  as  a  distributing  centre  or  depot  of  supplies. 
Warehouses,  lumber  yards  and  commercial  houses  abound,  but  there 
is  a  singular  absence  of  mills  and  factories  and  productive  establish 
ments.  There  are  no  metals  or  minerals,  or,  as  yet,  textile  plants  or 
food  plants,  whose  manufacture  is  undertaken  in  this  unique  city. 

The  Hawaiian  Islands  are,  without  question,  on  the  threshold  of 
a  great  industrial  era,  fraught  with  most  potent  results  to  the  pros 
perity  and  development  of  that  land.  Its  climate  is  delightful  and 
healthful,  and  its  soil  so  fertile  that  it  will  easily  support  5,000,000 
people. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Cuba,  "The  Child  of  Our  Adoption." 

The  Island  whose  Cry  to  Humanity  Brought  the  War  of  Relief. — How  It  Received  its 
Name. — The  Founding  of  the  Capital,  Havana. — A  Terrible  History  of  Spanish 
Cruelty. — The  Extermination  of  a  Great  People,  Beginning  in  the  Time  of  the 
Son  of  Columbus,  before  1560  the  Whole  of  the  Population  had  Disappeared 
from  the  Island. — The  First  Cuban  Revolt. — The  Capture  of  Havana  by  the 
English. — Its  Restoration  to  Spain. — A  Long  Series  of  Insurrections. — The 
Seven  Years'  War. — The  Last  and  Final  Uprising. — The  Advent  of  Weyler,  "the 
Butcher." — Atrocities  before  which  the  whole  World  Stood  Aghast. — His  Motto 
was  "Subjugation  or  Death." — American  Filibusters  Lend  a  Helping  Hand. — 
The  Death  of  General  Maceo,  through  Treachery,  a  great  Blow  to  the  Insurgents. 
— Weyler  and  the  Reconcentrados. — Two  Hundred  Thousand  Men,  Women  and 
Children  Die  of  Disease  and  Starvation. — Insurgents  the  Masters  of  almost  the 
whole  Island.— The  Fearful  Cost  of  the  War.— The  Cuban  Debt  Reached 
Nearly  $300,000,000. 

A  LTHOUGH  Cuba  is  not  a  part  or  a  possession  of  the  United 
States,  it  has  since  the  war  with  Spain,  in  1898,  come  under  the 
protection  of  this  government,  and  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  a 
place  in  this  volume.  In  the  hand  of  Providence,  this  island  became  the 
doorway  to  America.  It  was  here  that  Columbus  landed,  October  28, 
1492.  True,  he  touched  earlier  at  one  of  the  smaller  islands  to  the 
north  ;  but  it  was  merely  a  halting  before  pushing  on  to  Cuba. 
"Juana"  Columbus  called  the  island,  in  honor  of  Isabella's  infant 
son.  Afterward  it  was  successively  known  as  Fernandina,  Santiago, 
and  Ave  Maria ;  but  the  simple  natives,  who  were  there  to  the  num 
ber  of  350,000,  called  it  Cooba,  and  this  name  prevailed  over  the 
Spanish  titles,  as  the  island  has  finally  prevailed  over  Spanish  domina 
tion,  and  it  has  come  under  the  protection  of  America  with  its  Indian 
name,  slightly  changed  to  Cuba,  remaining  as  the  sole  and  only  herit 
age  we  have  of  the  simple  aborigines,  who  have  utterly  perished  from 
the  face  of  the  earth  under  Spanish  cruelty. 

In   1494  Columbus  visited  Cuba  a  second  time,  and  once  again 
in  1502.      In  1511  Diego  Columbus,  the  son  of  the  great  discoverer, 

283 


284  CUBA,  l'THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

with  a  colony  of  between  three  and  four  hundred  Spaniards,  came, 
and,  in  1514,  he  founded  the  towns  of  Santiago  and  Trinidad.  Five 
years  later,  in  1519,  the  present  capital  Havana,  or  Habana,  was 
founded.  The  French  reduced  the  city  in  1538,  practically  demolish 
ing  the  whole  town.  Under  the  governor  De  Soto,  it  was  rebuilt 
and  fortified,  the  famous  Morro  Castle  and  the  Punta,  which  are  still 
standing,  being  built  at  that  early  date. 

THE    ORIGINAL    INHABITANTS. 

The  natives,  whom  Columbus  found  in  Cuba,  were  agreeable  in 
feature,  and  so  amiable  in  disposition  that  they  welcomed  the  white 
man  with  open  arms,  and,  besides  contributing  food,  readily  gave  up 
their  treasurers  to  please  the  Spaniards.  Unlike  the  warlike  cannibal 
tribes  of  the  Lesser  Antilles,  known  as  the  Caribs,  they  lived  in  com 
parative  peace  with  one  another,  and  had  a  religion  which  recognized 
the  Supreme  Being.  Columbus  held  several  conferences  with  these 
simple  natives,  who  numbered,  according  to  his  estimate,  from  350,- 
ooo  to  half  a  million  souls,  and  his  associations  and  dealings  with  them 
on  his  first  visit  were  always  friendly  and  of  a  mutually  pleasing 
nature.  But  when  he  returned  to  Spain  he  left  soldiers,  who  brutally 
maltreated  them,  until  the  natives  rose  in  revolt  and  exterminated 
every  white  man.  Even  Columbus  himself,  in  1494,  had  to  fight  the 
Indians  at  the  landing-place. 

A  salubrious  climate,  a  fertile  soil,  and  simple  wants  rendered  it 
unnecessary  for  the  native  to  do  hard  work  ;  and  although  it  is  well 
proven  that  he  did  mine  copper  and  traded  in  it  with  the  mound 
builders  of  Florida,  yet  the  native  was  not  accustomed  to  arduous 
toil,  and  rebelled  against  it.  This,  perhaps,  was  unfortunate,  for  the 
perpetuity  of  his  race  at  that  time  depended  upon  this  very  quality. 
The  Spanish  "  friend  "  who  came  to  the  island  was  incapable  of  work. 
He  neither  would  nor  could,  under  his  ethics  of  self-respect,  abase 
himself  to  labor,  so  he  proceeded  to  enslave  the  native  to  labor  for 
him.  The  Cuban  rebelled,  and  fled  before  the  superior  Spanish 
weapons  from  the  coasts  to  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  the  interior. 

Then  began  that  cruel  and  long-continued  war  of  extermination,  of 
which  history  has  recorded  the  most  shocking  details.  The  conquest 
was  begun  under  Diego  Columbus,  the  son  of  the  great  discoverer. 


A  PERIOD  OF  REST  285 

The  merciless  Velasquez  was  his  general,  and  the  frightful  cruelties 
which  he  inaugurated  upon  the  simple  natives  have  been  continued 
for  nearly  four  hundred  years  by  his  successors  in  the  island,  though 
the  annihilation  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  themselves  was  a  brief  and 
bloody  work.  Velasquez  rode  them  down  and  trampled  them — re 
gardless  of  age  or  sex — under  the  iron  hoofs  of  his  war-horses, 
slashed  them  with  swords,  devastated  their  villages,  and  bore  them 
away  into  slavery.  The  Cuban  had  no  weapons  ;  the  mountain  fast 
nesses  could  not  hide  him  from  his  relentless  pursuer.  African  slaves, 
who  were  brought  to  the  island  in  Spanish  ships,  were  armed  and 
forced  by  their  masters  to  chase  the  natives,  and  not  a  forest  or 
mountain  top  was  a  place  of  refuge  for  these  doomed  children  of  the 
soil.  One  historian  declares :  "  There  is  a  little  doubt  that  before 
1560  the  whole  of  this  native  population  had  dissapeared  from  the 
island.  They  were  so  completely  exterminated  that  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  blood  of  their  race  was  even  remotely  preserved  in  the  mixed 
classes  who  followed  African  and  Chinese  introduction." 

A    PERIOD    OF    REST. 

For  nearly  two  hundred  years  after  the  extermination  of  the 
natives,  Cuba  rested  without  a  struggle  in  the  arms  of  Spain  The 
early  settlers  engaged  almost  wholly  in  pastoral  pursuits.  Tobacco 
was  indigenous  to  the  soil,  and  in  1580  the  Cuban  planters  began  its 
culture.  Later,  sugar-cane  was  imported  from  the  Canaries,  and 
found  to  be  a  fruitful  and  profitable  crop.  The  beginning  of  the 
culture  of  sugar  demanded  more  laborers,  and  the  importation  of 
additional  slaves  was  the  result.  In  1717,  Spain  attempted  to  make 
a  monopoly  of  the  tobacco  culture,  and  the  first  Cuban  revolt  occurred. 
In  1723  a  second  uprising  took  place,  because  of  an  oppressive  gov 
ernment  ;  but  these  early  revolts  against  tyranny  were  insignificant 
as  compared  with  those  of  the  last  half-century. 

In  1762,  the  city  of  Havana  was  captured  by  the  English,  with 
an  expedition  commanded  by  Lord  Albemarle,  but  his  fighting  troops 
were  principally  Americans  under  the  immediate  command  of  Generals 
Phineas  Lyman  and  Israel  Putnam  of  Revolutionary  fame.  The 
story  of  Putnam's  command  in  this  war  is  thrilling  and  sad.  After 
first  suffering  shipwreck  and  many  hardships  in  reaching  the  island, 


286  CUBA,  "THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

they  lay  before  Havana,  where  Spanish  bullets  and  fever  almost  an 
nihilated  the  whole  command.  Scarcely  more  than  one  in  fifty  lived 
to  return  to  America.  By  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  1763,  Cuba  was  un 
fortunately  restored  to  Spain,  and  it  was  afterward  that  her  troubles 
with  the  "  Mother  Country,"  as  Spain  affectionately  called  herself  to 
all  her  provinces,  began.  The  hand  of  oppression  for  one  and  a 
quarter  centuries  relaxed  not  its  grasp,  and  year  by  year  grew  heavier 
and  more  galling. 

DISCONTENT    AND    INSURRECTIONS. 

Some  of  the  most  prolific  seeds  of  modern  revolutions  may  be 
said  to  have  been  sown  when  the  African  slave  trade  assumed  impor 
tant  proportions,  in  1791.  About  the  same  time  began  a  large  impor 
tation  of  Chinese  coolies,  for  which  Cuba  paid  a  bounty  of  $400 
apiece  to  the  importer.  These  coolies  bound  themselves  to  the 
Spaniards  for  eight  years,  for  which  they  received  $4.00  per  month  as 
wages.  The  new  influx  of  labor  and  the  coming  of  Las  Casas  as 
Captain-General  to  Cuba,  in  1790,  mark  the  beginning  of  Cuba's 
great  period  of  prosperity.  This  enterprising  ruler  introduced  numer 
ous  public  improvements,  established  botanical  gardens  and  schools 
of  agriculture,  with  a  view  to  developing  and  increasing  Cuba's  re 
sources  and  commercial  importance.  Owing  to  his  wise  administra 
tion,  Cuba  prospered  and  remained  undisturbed  for  a  long  while.  An 
insurrection  occurred  among  the  slaves  in  1812,  which  was  promptly 
put  down  with  characteristic  cruelty,  and  the  blacks  remained  "good 
niggers"  for  a  third  of  a  century.  By  the  year  1844,  the  slave  trade 
with  Cuba  had  grown  to  enormous  proportions.  In  that  year  alone, 
statistics  tell  us,  10,000  slaves  were  landed  from  Africa  upon  the 
island.  Another  wild  and  fanatical  insurrection  occurred  the  same 
year  among  them,  in  which  thousands  of  their  lives  were  sacrificed, 
but,  as  before,  they  failed.  By  1850,  the  slaves  had  so  multiplied 
and  the  importation  had  been  so  large  that  the  census  showed  there 
were  nearly  500,000  on  the  island. 

Meantime,  in  1830,  a  revolution  on  the  part  of  the  Creoles 
(descendants  of  Spanish  and  French  settlers)  and  other  free  Cubans 
had  broken  out.  It  was  put  down,  but  the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
was  seed  in  the  ground.  Revolutionist  and  enslaved  insurrectionist 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE   PUBLIC  GROUNDS,    HAVANA,   CUBA 


MAGNIFICENT  INDIAN  STATUE   IN  THE   PRADO,    HAVANA,   CUBA. 


ANTONIO    MACEO. 

Lieutenant-General  in  the  Cuban  Army.    Killed  De 
cember  4,  1896.     Ei}iht  of  his  brothers  had  pre 
viously  given  their  lives  for  Cuban  freedom. 


GENERAL  CALIXTO  GARCIA. 

Hero  of  three  wars  for  Cuba's  freedom.     Died  of  pneu 
monia  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  December,  1898. 


GENERAL  MAXIMO  GOMEZ 

The    Washington   of    Cuba   is  the  title  applied  to 

this  hero,  who,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 

patriot  army,  made  Cuban  liberty  possible. 


JOSE    MARTI 

President  of  the  Cuban  Revolutionary  Party.    L,ed  into 

ambush  and  killed  by  the  Spaniards, 

May  19,  1895. 


CUBAN  HEROES  AND  MARTYRS. 


THE  TEN  YEARS'    WAR  289 

gradually  drifted  together.  They  had  a  common  cause — to  struggle 
for  freedom  against  oppression.  The  bondsman  was  little  or  no 
worse  off  than  tjie  Creoles,  Chinese  coolies,  and  free  negroes — all 
native-born  Cubans  were  shut  out  from  the  enjoyment  of  true  citizen 
ship.  They  must  do  the  work  and  pay  the  tribute,  but  Spaniards, 
born  in  Spain,  were  alone  allowed  to  hold  office  of  profit  or  trust 
under  the  government ;  and  they  looked  with  inexpressible  contempt 
upon  the  rest  of  the  population,  and,  with  the  backing  of  the  army, 
preserved  their  domination  in  spite  of  their  inferior  numbers.  The 
Governor-General  was  appointed  from  Spain  and  held  office  from  three 
to  five  years,  and  was  expected  to  steel  or  extort  himself  rich  in  that 
time.  It  is  said  that  not  one  Governor-General  ever  failed  to  do  so. 

THE  TEN  YEARS'  WAR. 

The  first  long  and  determined  struggle  of  the  oppressed  people 
of  Cuba  for  liberty  began  in  1868.  In  that  year  a  revolution  broke 
out  in  Spain,  and  the  patriots  seized  the  opportunity,  while  the 
mother  country  was  occupied  at  home,  for  an  heroic  effort  to  liberate 
themselves.  They  rose  first  at  Yara,  in  the  district  of  Bayamo,  and 
on  October  loth  of  that  year  made  a  declaration  of  independence 
Eight  days  later  the  city  of  Bayamo  was  taken  by  the  patriots,  and 
early  in  November  they  defeated  a  force  sent  against  them  from 
Santiago.  The  majority  of  the  South  American  republics  hastened 
to  recognize  the  Cubans  as  belligerents ;  but — though  they  held  the 
entire  interior  of  the  island  throughout  a  period  of  ten  years,  contin 
ually  winning  battles,  and  it  was  evident  to  all  the  world  that  Spain 
could  not  subdue  them — there  was  not  one  great  power  in  the  world 
willing  to  extend  to  the  patriots  the  recognition  of  belligerent  rights. 
The  cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  toward  the  soldiers  they  captured,  and 
to  all  inhabitants  who  sympathized  with  the  patriots'  cause,  was 
equaled  only  by  the  courage,  fortitude,  and  exalted  patriotism  which 
animated  their  victims.  The  following  instances,  selected  from 
scores  that  might  be  cited,  are  given  in  the  Spaniards'  own  words 
translated,  verbatim,  into  English  : 

Jacob  Rivocoba,  under  date  of  September  4,  1896,  writes  : 
41  We  captured  seventeen,  thirteen  of  whom  were  shot  outright ; 
on  dying  they  shouted,  '  Hurrah  for  free  Cuba !  hurrah  for  independ- 


2go  CUBA,  ''THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

ence  !'  A  mulatto  said,  '  Hurrah  for  Cespedes  !'  On  the  following 
day  we  killed  a  Cuban  officer  and  another  man.  Among  the  thirteen 
that  we  shot  the  first  clay  were  found  three  sons  and  their  father; 
the  father  witnessed  the  execution  of  his  sons  without  even  changing 
color,  and  when  his  turn  came  he  said  he  died  for  the  independence 
of  his  country.  On  coming  back  we  brought  along  with  us  three 
carts  filled  with  women  and  children,  the  families  of  those  we  had 
shot ;  and  they  asked  us  to  shoot  them,  because  they  would  rather 
die  than  live  among  Spaniards." 

Pedro  Pardon,  another  officer,  who  entered  entirely  into  the 
spirit  of  the  service  he  honored,  writes  on  September  22,  1869: 

"  Not  a  single  Cuban  will  remain  in  this  island,  because  we 
shoot  all  those  we  find  in  the  fields,  on  the  farms,  and  in  every 
hovel." 

And,  again,  on  the  same  clay,  the  same  officer  sends  the  follow 
ing  good  news  to  his  old  father  : 

"  We  do  not  leave  a  creature  alive  where  we  pass,  be  it  man  or 
animal.  If  we  find  cows,  we  kill  them;  if  horses,  ditto;  if  hogs, 
ditto  ;  men,  women,  or  children,  ditto  ;  as  to  the  houses,  we  burn 
them  :  so  every  one  receives  his  clue — the  men  in  balls,  the  animals 
in  bayonet-thrusts.  The  island  will  remain  a  desert." 

These  atrocities  were  perpetrated  not  alone  by  the  common 
soldier.  In  fact,  the  above  reports  come  from  men  who  were  officers 
in  the  Spanish  army,  and  they  show  that  such  actions  were  approved 
by  the  highest  authority.  A  well-authenticated  account  assures  us 
that  General  Count  Balmaceda  himself  went  on  one  occasion  to  the 
home  of  a  patriot  family,  Mora  by  name,  to  arrest  or  kill  the  patriots 
he  had  heard  were  stopping  there  ;  but,  finding  the  men  all  absent, 
he  wreaked  his  vengeance  and  thirst  for  blood  by  butchering  the  two 
Mora  sisters  and  burning  the  house  over  their  bodies. 

PEACE    AND    FAIR    PROMISES. 

At  last,  Spain,  seeing  that  she  could  neither  induce  the  Cubans 
to  surrender  nor  draw  them  into  a  decisive  battle ;  and  finding, 
furthermore,  that  her  army  of  200,000  men  was  likely  to  be  annihi 
lated  by  death,  disease,  and  patriot  bullets,  made  overtures,  which,  by 
promising  many  privileges  to  the  people  that  they  had  not  before 


THE  LAST  GREAT  STRUGGLE  FOR  FREEDOM      291 

enjoyed,  effected  a  peace.  As  a  result  of  this  war,  slavery  was  abol 
ished  in  the  island  ;  but  Spain's  promises  for  fair  and  equitable 
government  were  repudiated,  and  the  civil  powers  became  more  ex 
tortionate  and  severe  than  ever.  This  war  laid  a  heavy  debt  upon 
Spain,  and  Cuba  was  taxed  inordinately.  The  people  soon  saw  that 
they  had  been  duped.  The  world  looked  upon  Cuba  and  Spain  as  at 
peace.  To  the  outsider  the  surface  was  placid,  but  underneath  "the 
waters  were  troubled."  Such  heroic  spirits  as  Generals  Calixto 
Garcia,  Jose  Marti,  Antonio  Maceo,  and  Maximo  Gomez,  leaders  in 
the  ten  years'  struggle,  still  lived,  though  scattered  far  apart,  and  in 
their  hearts  bore  a  load  of  righteous  wrath  against  their  treacherous 
foe.  While  such  men  lived  and  such  conditions  existed  another  con 
flict  was  inevitable. 

THE  LAST  GREAT  STRUGGLE  FOR  FREEDOM. 

It  was  on  February  24,  1895,  tnat  tne  ^ast  revolution  of  the 
Cuban  patriots  began.  Spain  had  heard  the  mutterings  of  the  com 
ing  storm,  and  hoped  to  stay  it  by  visiting  with  severe  punishment 
every  Cuban  suspected  of  patriotic  affiliations.  Antonio  Maceo,  a 
mulatto,  but  a  man  of  fortune  and  education,  a  veteran  of  the  Ten 
Years'  War,  and  a  Cuban  by  birth,  was  banished  to  San  Domingo. 
There  were  other  exiles  in  Key  West,  New  York,  and  elsewhere. 
Jose  Marti  was  the  leading  spirit  in  forming  the  Cuban  Junta  in  New 
York  and  organizing  revolutionary  clubs  among  Cubans  everywhere. 
Antonio  Maceo  was  selected  to  lead  the  patriot  army.  He  went 
secretly  to  Cuba  and  began  organizing  an  army,  and  when  war  was 
declared  the  flag  of  the  new  republic,  bearing  a  red  lone  star  in  a  red 
field,  was  flung  to  the  breeze  in  three  of  the  six  provinces.  Captain- 
General  Campos  declared  martial  law  in  the  insurgents'  vicinity,  and 
troops  were  hastily  summoned  and  sent  from  Spain.  The  revolu 
tionists  from  the  start  fought  by  guerrilla  methods  of  warfare,  dash 
ing  upon  the  unsuspecting  Spanish  towns  and  forces,  and  escaping  to 
the  mountains  before  the  organized  Spaniards  could  retaliate. 

Jose  Marti  and  Jose  Maceo — brother  of  the  General — were 
prompt  to  join  the  active  forces,  and  on  April  13,  1895,  General 
Maximo  Gomez,  a  native  of  San  Domingo,  came  over  and  was  made 
commander  of  the  insurgent  forces.  This  grizzled  old  hero,  with 


292  CUBA,  "  THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

nearly  seventy  years  behind  him,  was  at  once  an  inspiration  and  a 
host  within  himself.  An  army  of  6,000  men  was  ready  for  his  com 
mand,  and  the  revolution  took  on  new  life  and  began  in  all  its  fury. 
On  May  igth  the  insurgents  met  their  first  great  disaster,  when  Jose 
Marti  was  led  into  an  ambush  and  killed.  But  his  blood  was  like  a 
seed  planted,  from  which  thousands  of  patriots  sprang  up  for  the 
ranks.  Within  a  few  days  there  were  10,000  ill-armed  but  deter 
mined  men  in  the  field.  They  had  no  artillery,  nearly  half  were 
without  guns,  and  there  was  little  ammunition  for  those  who  were 
armed. 

THE    PLANS    OF    CAMPOS    THWARTED. 

Captain-General  Campos  formed  a  plan  to  march  with  the 
Spanish  troops  from  end  to  end  of  the  island,  and  drive  the  insur 
gents  into  the  sea  if  they  refused  to  surrender.  Information  of  thk 
plan  was  carried  to  Gomez,  who  proved  so  wily  that  Campos  cotilc1 
neither  capture  him  nor  force  him  into  an  engagement.  Everywhere 
Gomez  marched  he  gathered  new  patriots  into  his  army,  and  captured 
many  carloads  of  Spanish  stores  and  arms.  Near  the  city  of  Bayamo, 
Maceo  attacked  Campos,  and  the  Spanish  commander  barely  escaped 
with  his  life.  He  was  besieged  in  Bayamo,  and  had  to  stay  there 
until  10,000  soldiers  were  sent  to  escort  him  home.  That  was  the 
last  of  Campos'  fighting.  By  August,  Spain  had  spent  $21,300,000 
and  lost  20,000  men  by  death,  and  39,000  additional  soldiers  had  been 
brought  into  the  island,  25,000  of  them  the  flower  of  the  Spanish 
army,  and  she  was  also  forced  to  issue  $120,000,000  bonds  which  she 
sold  at  a  great  sacrifice,  to  carry  on  the  war. 

The  patriots  met  in  September  13,  1895,  at  Camaguey  and 
formed  their  government  by  adopting  a  constitution  and  electing  a 
president  and  other  state  officers.  This  body  formally  conferred 
upon  Gomez  the  commission  of  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army. 
Before  the  close  of  the  month,  there  were  30,000  rebels  in  the  field. 
Spanish  warships  patroled  the  coast,  but  the  insurgents  held  the 
whole  interior  of  Santiago  province,  and  the  government  forces  dared 
not  venture  away  from  the  sea.  The  same  was  true  of  Santa  Clara 
and  Puerto  Principe.  Matanzas  was  debatable  ground ;  but  Gomez 
made  bold  raids  into  the  very  vicinity  of  Havana.  Spain  soon  had 
an  army  of  200,000  and  the  insurgents  50,000. 


THE  DEATH  OF  GENERAL  MA  CEO 


293 


As  if  the  cup  of  Cuba's  sorrow  were  not  sufficiently  bitter,  or  her 
long-suffering1  patriots  had  not  drunk  deep  enough  of  its  gall,  General 
Campos  was  recalled,  and  General  Valeriano  Weyler  (nicknamed 
"The  Butcher")  arrived  in  February,  1896.  He  promptly  inaugu 
rated  the  most  bitter  and  inhuman  policy  in  the  annals  of  modern 
warfare.  It  began  with  a  campaign  of  intimidation,  in  which  his 
motto  was  "  Subjugation  or  Death."  He  established  a  system  of 
espionage  that  was  perfect,  and  the  testimony  of  the  spy  was  all  the 
evidence  he  required.  He  heeded  no  prayer  and  knew  no  mercy. 
Pi  is  prisons  overflowed  with  suspected  patriots,  and  his  sunrise  execu 
tions,  every  morning,  made  room  for  others.  It  was  thus  that 
General  Weyler  carried  on  the  war  from  his  palace  against  the  un 
armed  natives,  his  200,000  soldiers  seldom  securing  a  shot  at  the  in 
surgents,  who  were  continually  bushwhacking  them  with  deadly  effect, 
while  yellow  fever  carried  them  off  by  the  thousands.  How  many 
lives  Weyler  sacrificed  in  that  dreadful  year  will  never  be  known. 
How  many  suspects  he  frightened  into  giving  him  all  their  gold  for 
mercy  and  then  coldly  shot  for  treason,  no  record  will  disclose  ;  but 
the  crowded,  unmarked  graves  on  the  hillside  outside  Havana  are 
mute  but  eloquent  witnesses  of  his  infamy. 

Under  these  conditions  Gomez  declared  that  all  Cubans  must 
take  sides.  They  must  be  for  or  against.  It  was  no  time  for  neutrals 
and  there  could  be  no  neutral  ground,  so  he  boldly  levied  forced 
contributions  upon  planters  who  were  unfavorable  to  his  cause,  and 
who  extended  protection  to  those  who  befriended  the  patriots. 

THE  DEATH  OF  GENERAL  MACEO. 

On  the  night  of  December  4,  1896,  the  insurgents  suffered  an 
irreparable  loss  in  the  death  of  General  Maceo,  who  was  led  into  an 
ambush  and  killed,  it  is  believed,  through  the  treachery  of  his  staff 
physician.  Eight  brothers  of  Maceo  had  previously  given  their  lives 
for  Cuban  freedom. 

At  the  close  of  1896,  the  island  was  desolate  to  an  extreme  per 
haps  unprecedented  in  modern  times.  The  country  was  laid  waste  and 
the  cities  were  starving.  Under  the  pretext  of  protecting  them, 
Weyler  gathered  the  non-combatants  into  towns  and  stockades,  and 

it  is  authoritatively  stated  that  200,000  men,  women,  and  children  of 
16 


294  CUBA,  <;  THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

the  "  reconcentrados,"  as  they  were  called,  died  of  disease  and  starva 
tion.  The  insurgents  remained  masters  of  the  island  except  along 
the  coasts.  The  only  important  incident  of  actual  warfare  was  the 
capture  of  Victoria  de  las  Tunas,  in  Santiago  province,  by  General 
Garcia  at  the  head  of  3,000  men,  after  three  days'  fighting.  In  this 
battle  the  Spanish  commander  lost  his  life  and  forty  per  cent,  of  his 
troops  were  killed  or  wounded  ;  the  rest  surrendered  to  Garcia,  and  the 
rebels  secured  by  their  victory  1,000  rifles,  1,000,000  rounds  of  am 
munition,  and  two  Krupp  guns. 

In  the  spring  of  1898,  the  United  States  intervened.  The  story 
of  our  war  with  Spain  for  Cuba's  freedom  is  elsewhere  related, 

Spain  has  paid  dearly  for  her  supremacy  in  Cuba  during  the  last 
third  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
revenue  from  Cuba  for  several  years  prior  to  the  Ten  Years'  War  of 
1868-78  amounted  to  $26,000,000  annually — about  $18  for  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  island — $20,000,000  of  it  was  absorbed  in 
Spain's  official  circles  at  Havana,  and  "  the  other  $6,000,000  that  the 
Spanish  government  received,"  says  one  historian,  "  was  hardly  enough 
to  pay  transportation  rates  on  the  help  that  the  mother  country  had 
to  send  to  her  army  of  occupation."  Consequently,  despite  this 
enormous  tax,  a  heavy  debt  accumulated  on  account  of  the  island, 
even  before  the  Ten  Years'  War  began. 

FEARFUL    COST    OF    THE    WAR. 

At  the  close  of  the  Ten  Years*  War  (1878)  Spain  had  laid  upon 
the  island  a  public  debt  of  $200,000,000,  and  required  her  to  raise 
$39,000,000  of  revenue  annually,  an  average  at  that  time  of  nearly  $30 
per  inhabitant.  But  Spain's  own  debt  had  also  increased  to  nearly 
$2,000,000,000,  and  during  this  Ten  Years'  War  she  had  sent  200.000 
soldiers  and  her  favorite  commanders  to  the  island,  only  about  50,000 
of  whom  ever  returned-  According  to  our  Consular  Report  of  July, 
1898,  when  the  last  revolution  began,  1895,  tne  Cuban  debt  had 
reached  $295,707,264.  The  interest  on  this  alone  imposed  a  burden 
of  $9.79  per  annum  upon  each  inhabitant.  During  the  war,  Spain 
had  200,000  troops  in  the  island,  and  the  three  and  one-half  years' 
conflict  cost  her  the  loss  of  nearly  100,000  lives,  mostly  from  sick 
ness,  and,  as  yet,  unknown  millions  of  dollars. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
Possibilities  of  the   Island 

Its  Possibilities,  its  Hopes. — The  Extent  of  the  Island,  its  Soil  and  its  vast  Products. 
— Rich  in  Sugar,  in  Timber  and  in  Minerals,  it  is  a  Place  Promising  Wealth, 
Rivaling  that  of  the  Klondike. — Its  Commerce  and  its  Climate. — Havana,  the 
Capital  City,  and  other  Ports. 

WHAT  the  future  of  Cuba  may  be  under  new  conditions  of 
government  remains  to  be  seen.  Certainly,  in  all  the 
world's  history  few  sadder  or  more  devastated  lands  have 
gathered  their  remnants  of  population  upon  the  ashes  of  their  ruins 
and  turned  a  hopeful  face  to  the  future.  So  far  as  the  people  them 
selves  are  concerned,  a  more  hunted,  starved,  wasted,  and  wretched 
mass  of  humanity  never  lay  upon  the  bosom  of  their  desolated  land. 

But  the  soil,  the  mineral  and  the  timber,  not  even  Spanish 
tyranny  could  destroy;  and  in  these  lie  the  hope,  we  may  say  the  sure 
guarantee,  of  Cuba's  future.  In  wealth  of  resources  and  fertility  of 
soil,  Cuba  is  superior  to  all  other  tropical  countries,  and  these  fully 
justify  its  right  to  the  title,  "  Pearl  of  the  Antilles,"  first  given  it  by 
Columbus. 

Under  a  wise  and  secure  government  its  possibilities  are  almost 
limitless.  Owing  to  its  location  at  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  which  it  divides  into  the  Yucatan  and  Florida  channels,  on 
the  south  and  north,  the  island  has  been  termed  the  "  Key  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,"  and  on  its  coat  of  arms  is  emblazoned  a  key,  as  if 
to  imply  its  ability  to  open  or  close  this  great  sea  to  the  commerce 
of  the  world. 

Cuba  extends  from  east  to  west  760  miles,  is  21  miles  wide  in  its 
narrowest  part  and  1 1 1  miles  in  the  widest,  with  an  average  width  of 
60  miles.  It  has  numerous  harbors,  which  afford  excellent  anchor 
age.  The  area  of  the  island  proper  is  41,655  square  miles  (a  little 
larger  than  the  State  of  Ohio),  and  including  the  Isle  of  Pines  and 

-95 


296  CUBA,  "  THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

other  small  points  around  its  entire  length,  numbering  in  all  some 
1,200,  there  are  47,278  square  miles  altogether  in  Cuba  and  belong 
ing  to  it.  The  island  is  intersected  by  broken  ranges  of  mountains, 
which  gradually  increase  in  height  from  west  to  east,  where  they 
reach  an  elevation  of  nearly  8,000  feet.  The  central  and  western 
portions  of  the  island  are  the  most  fertile,  while  the  principal  mineral 
deposits  are  in  the  mountains  of  the  eastern  end.  In  Matanzas  and 
other  central  provinces,  the  well-drained,  gently  sloping  plains,  diver 
sified  by  low,  forest-clad  hills,  are  especially  adapted  to  sugar  cul 
ture,  and  the  country  under  normal  conditions  presents  the  appear 
ance  of  vast  fields  of  cane.  The  western  portion  of  the  island  is 
also  mountainous,  but  the  elevations  are  not  great,  and  in  the  valleys 
and  along  the  fertile  slopes  of  this  district  is  produced  the  greater 
part  of  the  tobacco  for  which  the  island  is  famous. 

FERTILITY    OF    SOIL    AND    ITS    PRODUCTS. 

The  soil  of  the  whole  island  is  well-nigh  inexhaustible.  Except 
in  tobacco  culture,  fertilizers  are  never  used.  In  the  sugar  districts 
are  found  old  cane-fields  that  have  produced  annual  crops  for  a  hun 
dred  years  without  perceptible  impoverishment  of  the  soil.  Besides 
sugar  and  tobacco,  the  island  yields  Indian  corn,  rice,  maniac  (the  plant 
from  which  tapioca  is  prepared),  oranges,  bananas,  pineapples,  man 
goes,  guava  and  all  other  tropical  fruits,  with  many  of  those  belong 
ing  to  the  temperate  zone.  Raw  sugar,  molasses  and  tobacco  are 
the  chief  products,  and,  with  fruits,  nuts  and  unmanufactured  woods, 
form  the  bulk  of  exports,  though  coffee  culture  is  rapidly  coming  to 
the  front,  and  its  fine  quality  indicates  that  it  must  in  time  become 
one  of  the  most  important  products  of  the  island. 

As  a  sugar  country,  Cuba  takes  first  rank  in  the  world.  Mr. 
Gallon,  the  English  Consul,  in  his  report  to  his  government  in  1897 
upon  this  Cuban  crop,  declared  :  "Of  the  other  cane-sugar  countries 
of  the  world,  Java  is  the  only  one  which  comes  within  50  per  cent, 
of  the  amount  of  sugar  produced  annually  in  Cuba  in  normal  times, 
and  Java  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  are  the  only  ones  which  are  so 
generally  advanced  in  the  process  of  manufacture."  Our  own  Con 
sul,  Hyatt,  in  his  report  of  February,  1897,  expresses  the  belief  that 
Cuba  is  equal  to  supplying  the  entire  demands  of  the  whole  western 


MINERAL  AND  TIMBER  RESOURCES  297 

hemisphere  with  sugar — a  market  for  4,000,000  tons  or  more,  and 
requiring  a  crop  four  times  as  large  as  the  island  has  ever  yet  pro 
duced.  Those  who  regard  this  statement  as  extravagant  should 
remember  that  Cuba,  although  founded  and  settled  more  than  fifty 
years  before  the  United  States,  has  nearly  14,000,000  acres  of 
uncleared  primeval  forest-land,  and  is  capable  of  easily  supporting 
a  population  more  than  ten  times  that  of  the  present.  In  fact, 
the  Island  of  Java,  not  so  rich  as  Cuba,  and  of  very  nearly  the  same 
area,  with  less  tillable  land,  has  over  2 2,000,000  inhabitants  as  against 
Cuba's — perhaps  at  this  time — not  more  than  1,200,000  souls. 

MINERAL    AND    TIMBER    RESOURCES. 

The  mineral  resources  of  Cuba  are  second  in  importance  to  its 
agricultural  products.  Gold  and  silver  are  not  believed  to  exist  in 
paying  quantities  ;  but  its  most  valuable  mineral,  copper,  seems  to 
be  almost  inexhaustible.  The  iron  and  manganese  mines,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Santiago,  are  of  great  importance,  the  ores  being  rated 
among  the  finest  in  the  world.  Deposits  of  asphalt  and  mineral  oils 
are  also  found. 

The  third  resource  of  Cuba  in  importance  is  its  forest  product. 
Its  millions  of  acres  of  unbroken  woodlands  are  rich  in  valuable  hard 
woods,  suitable  for  the  finest  cabinet-work  and  shipbuilding,  and  also 
furnish  many  excellent  dye  woods.  Mahogany,  cedar,  rosewood  and 
ebony  abound.  The  palm,  of  which  there  are  thirty-odd  species 
found  in  the  island,  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  and  valuable  of 
Cuban  trees. 

CITIES    AND    COMMERCE. 

The  commerce  of  Cuba  has  been  great  in  the  past,  but  Spanish 
laws  made  it  expensive  and  oppressive  to  the  Cubans.  Its  location 
and  resources,  with  wise  government,  assure  to  the  island  an  enor 
mous  trade  in  the  future.  There  are  already  four  cities  of  marked 
importance  to  the  commercial  world :  Havana  with  a  population  of 
250,000,  Santiago  with  71,000,  Matanzas  with  29,000,  and  Cien- 
fuegos  with  30,000,  are  all  seaport  cities  with  excellent  harbors,  and 
all  do  a  large  exporting  business.  Add  to  these  Cardenas  with 
25,000,  Trinidad  with  18,000,  Manzanillo  with  10,000,  and  Guan- 
tanamo  and  Baracoa,  each  with  7,000  inhabitants,  we  have  an  array 


298  CUBA,  "THE  CHILD  OF  OUR  ADOPTION" 

of  ten  cities  such  as  few  strictly  farming  countries  of  like  size  possess. 
Aside  from  cigar  and  cigarette  making,  there  is  little  manufacturing 
in  Cuba  ;  but  fruit  canneries,  sugar  refineries,  and  various  manufac 
turing  industries  for  the  consumption  of  native  products  will  rapidly 
follow  in  the  steps  of  good  government.  Hence,  in  the  field  of 
manufacturing,  this  island  offers  excellent  inducements  to  capital. 

SEASONS    AND    CLIMATE. 

Like  all  tropical  countries,  Cuba  has  but  two  seasons — the  wet 
and  the  dry.  The  former  extends  from  May  to  October,  June,  July 
and  August  being  the  most  rainy  months.  The  dry  season  lasts  from. 
November  to  May.  This  fact  must  go  far  toward  making  the  island 
more  and  more  popular  as  a  winter  health  resort.  The  interior  of 
the  island  is  mountainous,  and  always  pleasantly  cool  at  night,  while 
on  the  highlands  the  heat  in  the  day  is  less  oppressive  than  in  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  during  the  hottest  summer  weather;  conse 
quently,  when  once  yellow  fever,  which  now  ravages  the  coasts  of  the 
island  on  account  of  its  defective  sanitation,  is  extirpated,  as  it 
doubtless  will  be  under  the  new  order  of  things,  Cuba  will  become 
the  seat  of  many  winter  homes  for  wealthy  residents  of  the  United 
States.  Even  in  the  summer,  the  temperature  seldom  rises  above 
80°,  while  the  average  for  the  year  is  77*.  At  no  place,  except  in  the 
extreme  mountainous  altitude,  is  it  ever  cold  enough  for  frost. 

THE    EVACUATION    OF    HAVANA. 

The  complete  transfer  of  authority  in  the  island  of  Cuba  from 
Spain  to  the  United  States  took  place  on  Sunday,  January  i,  1899. 
At  noon  on  that  day  Captain-General  Castellanos  and  staff  met  the 
representatives  of  the  United  States  in  the  hall  of  his  palace,  and 
with  due  formality  and  marked  Spanish  courtesy,  in  the  name  of  the 
King  and  Queen  Regent  of  Spain,  delivered  possession  of  Cuba  to 
General  Wade,  head  of  the  American  Evacuation  Committee,  and  he 
in  turn  transferred  the  same  to  General  Brooke,  who  had  been  ap 
pointed  by  President  McKinley  as  Military  Governor  of  the  Division 
of  Cuba.  No  unpleasant  incident  marred  the  occasion.  General 
Castellanos  spoke  with  evident,  yet  becoming  emotion  on  so  important 
an  occasion.  Three  Cuban  generals  were  present,  who,  at  General 


THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  HOISTED 

Castellanos'  request,  were  presented  to  him,  and  the  Spaniard  said, 
with  marked  grace  and  evident  sincerity  "  I  am  sorry,  gentlemen, 
that  we  are  enemies,  being  of  the  same  blood  ; "  to  which  one  of  the 
Cuban  patriots  courteously  responded,  with  commendable  charity, 
"  We  fought  only  for  Cuba,  and  now  that  she  is  free,  we  are  no 
longer  enemies." 

THE    STARS   AND   STRIPES   HOISTED. 

The  formal  transfer  had  scarcely  taken  place  within  the  palace 
hall,  when  the  flag  of  Spain  was  lowered  from  Morro  Castle,  Cabanas 
Fortress,  and  all  the  public  buildings,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
instantly  arose  in  its  place  on  the  flagpoles  of  these  old  and  historic 
buildings.  As  its  graceful  folds  floated  gently  out  upon  the  breeze, 
the  crowds  from  the  streets  cheered,  the  band  played  the  most  appro 
priate  of  all  airs,  while  voices  in  many  places  in  the  throng,  catching 
up  the  tune,  sang  the  inspiring  words  of  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner." 

HAVANA,    THE    BEAUTIFUL    CAPITAL. 

When  one  mentions  Cuba,  the  first  thought  that  enters  the 
minds  is  of  Havana,  the  beautiful  capital  of  this  beautiful  Isle.  For 
many  years  it  has  been  the  Mecca  of  social  pilgrims  who  journey 
south  during  the  winter  to  escape  the  cold.  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  founded  by  Diego  Velasquez,  the  conqueror  of  Cuba  in  1508, 
who,  being  so  delighted  with  the  harbor  and  its  general  position, 
called  it  La  Have  del  Nuevo  Mondo,  which  means  the  key  to  the 
new  world.  In  1528,  it  was  burned  to  the  ground,  but  it  was  soon 
built  anew,  and  protected  by  a  chain  of  fortifications,  which  made  it 
a  great  stronghold.  In  1802,  it  was  again  largely  destroyed  by  fire 
and  instead  of  wood,  it  was  rebuilt  in  stone  and  masonry. 

GRIM    MORRO    CASTLE 

The  first  thing  that  impresses  the  traveler  as  he  enters  Havana 
by  the  sea,  is  Morro  Castle,  which  stands  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbort 
cold,  gloomy,  but  powerful,  and  one  naturally  shudders  a  little  at  its 
sight,  because  around  it  cluster  tales  of  the  most  horrible  brutality 
and  savagery  ever  known  in  this  continent.  Here  all  the  prisoners 
were  kept  to  be  led  out  later  to  pay  the  penalty  of  patriotism,  for 


300  POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE  ISLAND 

crimes  real  or  imaginary  against  the  Spanish  Government.  Here 
in  its  dungeons,  prisoners  were  starved  and  tortured  to  madness, 
and  here  too  men,  women  and  children  whose  only  crimes  were  that 
they  had  relatives  in  the  ranks  of  the  insurgents,  were  huddled  to 
gether  like  rats  in  a  cage,  and  made  to  suffer  atrocities  which  have 
shocked  the  whole  civilized  world. 

The  harbor  of  Havana  is  a  beautiful  one,  and  from  a  military 
point  of  view,  is  practically  impregnable.  The  city  proper  is  quite  as 
beautiful.  The  commercial  quarter  consists  of  a  labyrinth  of  narrow 
lanes,  traversed  by  one  or  two  streets,  which  are  wider  and  more 
striking,  the  principal  of  which  is  the  Calle  Oreilly,  which  runs  from 
the  Governor's  palace  out  to  the  very  walls  of  the  City.  Few  of  the 
houses  which  line  the  little  streets  are  more  than  one  story  in  height, 
but  a  Spanish  one-story  is  almost  equal  to  three  stories  of  an  average 
house.  The  lower  half  of  every  house  is  painted  either  a  dark  blue, 
deep  red,  or  vivid  yellow,  while  the  upper  part  is  always  a  dazzling 
white.  The  columns  of  the  buildings,  which  are  plentiful,  are  usually 
treated  in  the  same  way,  one-half  being  one  color,  and  the  other  half 
another.  The  lower  windows  are  protected  for  the  most  part  by 
heavy  iron  bars,  which  would  make  the  place  look  like  a  prison, 
especially  as  in  passing  one  sees  the  fair  face  of  some  senorita  look 
ing  from  between  them,  were  it  not  for  their  bright  colors.  Some  of 
the  finer  houses  of  the  city  are  very  handsome  indeed,  but  there  is 
little  variety  in  their  architecture  ;  they  are  all  built  in  the  style 
which  reminds  one  of  Rome,  with  an  inner  courtyard  surrounded  by 
handsome  marble  or  stucco  columns. 

THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  COURTYARDS. 

In  this  inner  courtyard  is  usually  to  be  found  a  garden,  with  a 
fountain  in  the  centre,  or  perhaps  some  statues,  and  here  the  women 
of  the  house  entertain  in  the  evening  or  enjoy  themselves  quietly 
beneath  the  blazing  glare  of  the  lights,  and  as  one  passes  up  the 
street  outside,  he  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  glance  in  through 
the  doorway  and  see  this  brilliant  scene,  which  adds  so  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  city  at  night. 

The  Cerro  is  the  handsomest  residence  street  in  Havana.  It 
runs  up  the  hill  at  the  back  of  the  town,  and  has  on  either  side, 


THE  SPLENDID  CHURCHES  OF  HAVANA  301 

large  old  villas,  which  are  surrounded  by  magnifkient  gardens. 
Upon  this  street  is  the  former  summer  villa  of  the  Bishops  of 
Havana,  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  of  cocoa  palms.  It  is  now  used  as  a 
private  residence.  One  hears  a  great  deal  of  the  old  time  volante, 
which  was  to  Cuba  what  the  gondola  is  to  Venice.  It  is  not  as  com 
mon  in  Havana  nowadays  as  it  used  to  be,  but  occasionally  one  sees 
this  remarkable  vehicle  with  its  wheels  so  thin  that  one  wonders  why 
they  do  not  break,  its  long  shafts  and  the  driver  perched  upon  the 
animal  which  draws  it.  Sometimes  the  characteristic  volantes  are 
magnificently  decorated  with  silver  and  costly  cloths.  In  these  later 
days  the  usual  vehicles  of  America  are  much  more  common  in  the 
city  proper  than  this  famous  old  Cuban  equipage,  although  it  is  still 
to  be  generally  seen  in  other  parts  of  the  island. 

As  one  walks  along  he  notices  that  the  lamp-posts  are  painted 
various  colors  to  tell  the  district — red  for  the  central  district,  blue  for 
the  second,  and  green  for  the  outside  district.  This  enables  even  a 
stranger  to  compute  the  carriage  hire  of  public  conveyances.  The 
laws  are  very  strict  in  the  matter  of  charges,  and  one  is  able  to  keep 
from  being  imposed  upon  by  the  hack  drivers,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
he  can  tell  exactly  how  far  he  is  going. 

THE    SPLENDID    CHURCHES    OF    HAVANA. 

There  are  one  or  two  very  fine  churches  in  this  city,  the 
largest  of  which  is  the  Mercede.  Here  the  fashionable  people  wend 
their  way  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  the  young  men  lining  up  in  rows 
outside  the  church  door  after  services  as  they  do  in  this  country. 
The  most  magnificent  edifice,  however,  is  the  great  Cathedral  of 
Havana,  which  was  erected  in  1724.  It  has  one  big  dome  and  two 
little  towers  on  either  side  of  the  centre  much  like  the  other  churches 
of  Spanish-American  architecture,  and  both  inside  and  outside  it  is 
beautiful  and  effective. 

The  columns  of  the  church  are  of  mahogany  so  highly  polished 
that  they  look  like  deep-red  marble.  They  are  strikingly  relieved  by 
great  gilt  bronze  capitals.  The  choir  place  is  the  most  striking  of 
its  kind  probably  on  this  continent ;  and  in  it  is  the  tomb  of  Columbus, 
from  which  the  body  of  the  great  discoverer  was  recently  taken  and 
sent  to  Spain.  The  stalls  are  of  mahogany,  magnificently  carved, 


302  POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE  ISLAND 

and  highly  polished.  The  ceiling,  too,  is  very  artistic,  and  is  made 
almost  entirely  of  mosaic  work  in  rare  woods. 

Another  prominent  building  of  Havana  is  the  Jesuit  College  for 
boys,  which  has  connected  with  it  one  of  the  best  observatories  out 
side  of  the  United  States.  It  also  has  a  museum  and  a  library,  in 
which  are  relics  and  manuscripts  illustrating  Cuban  affairs  from  the 
sixteenth  century  down  to  the  present  day.  Throughout  the  city 
there  are  a  number  of  large  charitable  institutions,  which  are,  for  the 
most  part,  very  clean  and  well  carried  on. 

One  of  the  things  that  the  traveler  first  notices  in  Havana  is 
the  great  number  of  beggars.  They  appear  everywhere,  and  from 
them  there  is  little  escape,  as  their  boldness  is  something  amazing. 

SHOPS    AND    THEATRES. 

The  shops  in  Havana  are  numerous,  but  most  of  them  are  built 
on  the  principle  of  the  bazaars  in  the  far  East,  without  windows  and 
with  all  the  wares  exposed  to  the  passer-by. 

As  for  amusements,  the  chief  opera  house  of  the  city,  the  Tacon, 
is  considered  a  very  fine  place,  and  the  attractions  there  are  nearly 
always  of  the  best.  It  seats  about  5,000  persons,  and  the  boxes  are 
arranged  in  tiers,  which  are  separated  by  gilded  lattices.  The  top 
most  gallery  is  given  over  to  colored  people  entirely.  The  first  two 
rows  of  boxes  are  usually  filled  up  with  the  aristocracy  of  the  city 
and  the  wealthy  merchants,  and  on  a  gala  night  the  display  of  jewelry 
and  costumes  may  be  said  to  quite  rival  that  of  the  large  cities  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  house  are  a  pit  and  orchestra 
stalls.  The  stage  is  large  and  well  managed  according  to  the  most 
approved  American  ideas.  The  orchestra  is  largely  made  up  of  col 
ored  people,  some  of  them  full-blooded  negroes,  but  the  music  they 
give  is  such  that  the  most  captious  critic  could  not  find  fault  with  it. 

Salvini,  Duse,  and  Bernhardt  have  appeared  here,  and  the  audi 
ences  which  greeted  them  would  compare  favorably  with  the  audiences 
which  cheer  them  in  any  other  country. 

A    GLIMPSE    AT    CUBAN    SOCIETY. 

In  an  article  recently  published  in  the  Fortnightly  Review,  Rich 
ard  Davey  gives  the  following  very  interesting  account  of  Cuban 
society  : 


A  GLIMPSE  AT  CUBAN  SOCIETY  303 

u  Of  society,  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  there  is  little  or  none 
in  Havana,  and  one  may  count  upon  the  ringers  of  one  hand  the 
houses  where  balls  and  parties  are  given.  Conversation  soon  flags 
in  a  country  where  education  is  so  backward,  especially  among  the 
women,  whose  intellectual  pabulum  consists  generally  of  the  very 
worst  French  novels  and  their  prayer-books — a  singular  combination. 
The  education  of  the  males  is  a  little  better.  The  wealthier  families 
send  their  sons  either  to  the  Jesuits  at  Havana,  to  Europe,  or  the 
United  States.  So  far  so  good  ;  but  when  they  come  home  for  their 
holidays,  or  their  education  is  finished,  the  home  influence  is  dis 
astrous.  Waited  on  hand  and  foot  by  the  negroes,  and  pampered  by 
their  parents,  they  soon  fall  victims  to  the  relaxing  climate  and  to 
every  sort  of  vicious  influence.  Lack  of  energy  is  the  result  of  this 
lamentable  system,  which  fosters  most  unhealthy  love  of  ease  and 
sensual  indulgence. 

"The  usual  way  of  spending  the  evening  in  a  Cuban  house  is  to 
place  a  long,-  double  row  of  rocking-chairs  opposite  each  other,  and 
sit  there  chattering,  everybody  meanwhile  smoking  the  inevitable 
cigarette.  In  some  houses  music  of  a  high  order  may  be  heard,  and 
some  of  the  ladies  sing  charmingly — otherwise  the  place  is  socially  dull. 

"The  Cuban  lady  is  a  very  fascinating  creature.  She  is  elegant, 
walks  gracefully,  has  pretty  features,  beautiful  eyes,  admirable  teeth, 
and  splendid  hair,  but  spoils  herself  by  her  insane  fashion  of  coating 
face,  neck,  shoulders  and  arms  with  rice  powder  to  such  a  thickness 
as  to  give  her  a  most  ghastly  appearance,  not  unlike  that  of  a  Pier 
rette.  Coquettish  as  a  young  girl,  she  is  generally  both  devoted  and 
blameless  as  a  wife  and  mother.  On  the  other  hand  she  is  capable, 
on  provocation,  of  displaying  fiendishly  vindictive  and  cruel  traits,  a 
fact  only  too  well  known  by  many  a  poor  ex-slave. 

*'  Religion  occupies  a  great  deal  of  the  time  of  the  Cubans  of 
both  sexes,  but  I  am  afraid  it  is  considered  rather  a  pastime  than  a 
moral  factor.  Among  the  men  of  the  better  class,  who  have  been 
educated  in  Paris,  it  is  never  allowed  to  interfere  with  their  passions, 
pleasures,  or  caprices.  In  the  days  of  slavery  they  considered  their 
duty  to  their  dependents  ended  with  the  wholesale  administration  of 
baptism,  which  was  obligatory  by  law,  but  it  never  entered  their  head 
to  teach  them  any  duties  beyond  those  of  implicit  obedience  to  their 


304  POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE  ISLAND 

own  will,  even  the  rudiments  of  the  catechism  being  absolutely 
neglected.  That  there  are  many  admirable  men  among  the  Cubans 
cannot  be  gainsaid,  but  unfortunately  the  mass  of  them  is  corrupt,  as 
must  ever  be  the  case  with  a  people  whose  slaves  have  for  generations 
been  only  too  eager  to  pander  to  their  worst  vices. 

"  Much  more  sincere  than  the  Spaniards,  they  have  always  been 
distinguished  for  their  hospitality  and  for  the  grace  and  dignity  of 
their  manners.  If  they  offer  you  a  thing  they  wish  you  to  accept  it, 
and  do  not  say  so  for  the  mere  form.  They  welcome  you  heartily, 
and  regret  your  departure. 

BRUTAL    TREATMENT    OF    SLAVES. 

"  In  former  times  their  treatment  of  their  slaves  was  notoriously 
cruel,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  contrast  between  the  splendid  hos 
pitality  which  I  myself  enjoyed  on  a  Cuban  plantation,  and  the  horrid 
sights  which  I  witnessed  in  its  coffee-fields,  where  the  negroes  were 
whipped  by  the  overseers  for  the  most  trivial  offences.  An  appalling 
incident  occurred,  too,  during  my  stay,  which  can  never  be  effaced 
from  my  mind,  and  which  I  discovered  by  the  merest  chance,  for  I 
was  to  have  been  kept  in  total  ignorance  of  its  occurrence.  A  strik 
ingly  handsome  young  mulatto  had  escaped  into  the  woods  and  had 
been  recaptured.  For  nearly  a  week  he  was  tortured  every  day  regu 
larly  for  two  hours,  and  in  the  presence  of  all  the  other  hands,  and, 
needless  to  say,  in  that  of  his  master.  I  chanced  one  afternoon  to  go 
for  a  walk,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  children  of  the  family,  a  lad  of 
twelve  years,  who  thoughtlessly  asked  me  to  come  and  see  what  they 
were  'doing  to  Pedro.'  They  were  flaying  him  alive  with  pincers, 
burning  him  with  hot  wires,  and  rubbing  his  wounds  with  saltpetre  ! 
The  poor  wretch,  who  was  shrieking  desperately  and  writhing  in 
agony,  was  tied  hand  and  foot  to  the  stump  of  a  tree.  The  strangest 
part  of  it  all  was  that  the  negroes  for  whose  intimidation  this  dia 
bolical  torture,  which  eventually  ended  in  slow  death,  had  been 
devised,  did  not  seem  to  be  particularly  impressed  by  its  horror,  for 
they  were  laughing  and  shouting  like  so  many  fiends.  Needless  to 
say,  I  left  that  hacienda  somewhat  hurriedly. 

"The  house  slaves,  however,  were  treated  with  extreme  indul 
gence,  petted  and  spoiled  to  their  heart's  content,  and  a  more  idle, 


A  CITY  FILLL^  WITH  ODORS  305 

vicious,  happy-go-lucky  lot  I  never  came  across  in  all  my  life.  The 
house  on  this  plantation  was  a  very  fair  specimen  of  its  class.  It  was 
enormous,  built  of  stone  with  spacious  verandas,  and,  although  but 
one-story  high,  the  rooms  were  so  prodigiously  lofty  that  the  external 
appearance  was  quite  majestic.  Its  wide,  inner  courtyard,  numerous 
saloons,  billiard-room  and  corridors  were  luxuriously  furnished  in 
excellent  taste,  and  were  cool  and  delightful.  The  garden  was  a 
veritable  paradise.  I  wish  I  had  the  space  to  describe  the  many 
pleasant  days  I  passed  there,  marred  alone  by  the  dreadful  incident 
above  alluded  to." 

A    CITY    FILLED    WITH    ODORS. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Havana  is  a  pleasant  city,  taken 
as  a  whole,  yet  there  are  many  things  which  cause  it  to  be  a  place  to 
be  avoided  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  The  odor  which  comes  up 
from  the  harbor  is  such  that  one  can  scarcely  enjoy  life  while  it  exists. 
So  offensive  was  it  that  as  soon  as  the  United  States  came  into  pos 
session  of  the  city  under  the  terms  of  the  protocol,  Colonel  George 
E.  Waring,  of  New  York,  was  sent  to  Cuba  by  the  Government  to 
look  into  the  matter  of  cleaning  up  Havana  and  making  it  as  sanitary 
as  possible.  The  trip  proved  a  fatal  one  for  Colonel  Waring.  While 
in  Havana  he  contracted  yellow  fever,  and  came  home  to  die  from 
this  terrible  scourge.  However,  the  work  he  did  in  Havana  was  of 
such  a  nature  that  the  Government  was  able  immediately  after  tak 
ing  possession  of  the  city  to  start  in  its  task  of  cleaning  the  Cuban 
capital. 

Vigorous  action  was  also  begun  to  improve  the  moral  sanitation 
of  Havana.  Vans  now  go  around  the  city  after  midnight  and  pick  up 
the  vagrant  and  homeless  persons  who  fill  the  porticos  everywhere. 
Those  who  are  able  to  labor  are  turned  over  to  the  public  work  of 
the  city,  such  as  sweeping  the  streets  and  cleaning  up  the  gutters. 
For  this  they  are  paid  ninety  cents  a  day.  Those  who  are  not  able 
to  work,  and  these  form  by  far  the  larger  class,  are  provided  for 
either  at  the  San  Isidro  Asylum  or  the  hospitals.  It  is  hoped  to 
clear  the  streets  entirely  of  these  people. 

The  children,  too,  are  being  looked  after,  and  provided  with 
home  in  the  San  Jose  Asylum.  This  formerly  had  a  manual  training 


306  POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE  ISLAND 

school  in  connection  with  it,  which  will  be  revived,  and  the  children 
taught  to  do  some  trade. 

RECONCENTRADOS    DIE    BY    THOUSANDS. 

Another  attractive  part  of  Cuba  is  Matanzas,  near  which,  during 
the  recent  uprising,  the  Cuban  insurgents  had  their  headquarters. 
Here  under  the  edict  of  General  Weyler,  11,000  Reconcentrados 
gathered  together,  and  here,  too,  9,000  of  them  died  of  starvation 
and  want.  The  whole  of  the  province  is  about  as  large  as  the  State 
of  Delaware. 

The  city,  although  smaller  than  Havana,  is  better  built,  and  the 
streets  are  very  much  more  regular.  It  is  perhaps  the  most  delight 
ful  place  to  live  in  on  the  island,  and  is  in  the  midst  of  a  wonderfully 
fertile  district.  Near  it  is  the  valley  of  the  Yumurri,  the  "  happy 
valley,"  which  is  so  pleasant  in  temperature,  even  in  the  hottest  days 
in  summer,  that  it  is  the  most  charming  of  places  to  spend  either 
summer  or  winter. 

But  perhaps  the  best  known  city  of  the  island,  after  Havana,  a 
city  which  has  been  brought  into  the  greatest  prominence  by  the  war, 
is  Santiago  de  Cuba.  Here  the  American  forces  gathered  both  by 
land  and  sea,  and  after  an  attack  more  brilliant  perhaps  than  any 
other  of  which  we  have  known,  captured  this  stronghold  against  fear 
ful  odds.  And  when  they  marched  into  it,  they  found  this  little  town, 
nestling  at  the  base  of  the  hills,  in  an  awful  state  of  filth  and  decay. 
Fever,  more  terrible  even  than  Spanish  bullets,  began  towage  war  in 
the  ranks  of  our  army,  and  after  the  city  had  completely  yielded  itself 
into  our  hands  the  first  great  work  of  those  appointed  to  take  care  of 
it  was  to  cleanse  it  and  remove  as  far  as  possible  the  danger  of 
plague.  This  work  was  placed  in  charge  of  Doctor  Leonard  Wood, 
the  famous  Colonel  and  commander  of  the  Rough  Riders,  who  after 
winning  the  most  notable  laurels  as  a  fighter,  added  to  them  laurels 
equally  notable,  through  his  remarkable  work  in  ridding  the  city  of 
filth  and  disease. 

THE    CLEANING    OF    SANTIAGO. 

Perhaps  the  best  idea  of  what  was  accomplished  may  be  gained 
from  the  report  of  Robert  P.  Porter,  Special  Commissioner  for  the 


THE  CLEANING  OF  SANTIAGO  307 

United  States  to  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  "  The  disagreeable  smells  of 
the  typical  Cuban  city,"  his  report  says,  "are  less  pronounced  in  Sant 
iago,  while  whitewash,  limewash,  fresh  paint  and  all  sorts  of  disin 
fectants  have  deodorized  the  surrounding  atmosphere  and  made  the 
old  town  quite  habitable.  The  streets  are  no  longer  used  as  sewers, 
and  the  unhappy  individual  who  violates  the  law  and  escapes  the 
lash  of  the  Sanitary  Commissioner's  whip  is  compelled  to  work  on  the 
streets  for  thirty  days.  This  official,  Major  Barbour,  with  126  men 
dressed  in  spotless  white,  and  32  good  United  States  mule  teams  and 
carts,  having  dug  out  from  the  streets  of  Santiago  the  filth  of  ages, 
is  now  able  to  keep  them  absolutely  clean.  Every  day,  by  the  aid  of 
petroleum,  the  garbage  of  the  city  is  burned. 

"The  work  of  sanitation  is  not  confined  to  the  streets,  but  extends 
to  the  dwelling  houses,  shops  and  buildings  of  all  kinds.  To  accom 
plish  this,  however,  the  doors  of  houses  had  to  be  smashed  in,  and 
people  making  sewers  of  the  thoroughfares  were  publicly  horsewhipped 
in  the  streets.  Eminently  respectable  citizens  were  forcibly  brought 
before  the  commanding  general  and  sentenced  to  aid  in  cleaning  the 
streets  they  were  in  the  habit  of  defiling. 

"  The  campaign  has  ended  in  a  complete  surrender  to  the  sanitary 
authorities,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Santiago,  regardless  of  class,  have 
had  their  first  object  lesson  in  the  new  order  of  things  inaugurated  by 
the  war.  Several  important  streets  have  been  repaved ;  all  the  public 
buildings  have  been  thoroughly  cleaned,  the  work  even  extending  to 
the  Opera  House." 

Continuing  in  his  report,  Mr.  Porter  says, — in  speaking  of  the 
general  condition  of  the  island  : 

"  The  rural  districts  of  Santiago  have  been  so  depleted  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  collect  taxes  over  and  above  those  needed  for 
the  bare  necessities  of  schools  for  the  poor,  and  possibly  small  sums 
to  improve  sanitary  conditions. 

"The  dawn  of  prosperity,  however,  should  be  the  signal  for  in 
augurating  systematic  work  on  the  country  roads.  The  British 
Government  spends  annually  for  the  roads  in  Jamaica  about  $500,000, 
where  there  are  now  2000  miles  already  constructed.  The  money 
expended  on  roads,  whether  from  the  general  funds  of  the  island  or 
from  the  local  budgets,  would  come  back  a  hundred  fold,  it  is  stated, 


308  POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE  ISLAND 

and  make  Santiago  one  of  the  richest  sugar,  coffee  and  fruit  growing 
districts  in  the  West  Indies.  Bananas  can  be  grown  at  a  profit,  and, 
as  it  takes  only  fourteen  months  to  grow,  unlike  coffee  and  oranges, 
the  poorer  classes  could  undertake  its  cultivation  to  their  great 
advantage.  The  internal,  industrial,  professional,  licensing  and 
other  miscellaneous  taxes  have  so  far  been  remitted  in  this  part  of 
,  Cuba,  but  the  authorities  are  now  preparing  to  enforce  them." 

Now  that  the  customs  tariff  has  been  disposed  of,  Mr.  Porter 
recommends  that  an  immediate  scheme  be  prepared  for  levying  and 
collecting  internal  revenue  for  the  entire  island.  The  question  of 
separating  these  taxes  from  purely  municipal  taxes  should  also  be 
considered.  The  large  total  of  delinquencies  during  the  last  three 
years,  which  amounted  to  about  $6,000,000,  was,  of  course,  due  to 
the  war.  In  normal  times  we  have  here  $4,000,000  or  $5,000,000  of 
revenue  that  must  not  be  overlooked,  revenue  which,  if  properly  and 
economically  employed,  would  aid  in  the  industrial  rehabilitation  of 
Cuba. 

WHERE    SUGAR    AND    TOBACCO    GROW. 

The  other  divisions  of  the  island  are  Pinar  del  Rio,  Santa  Clara 
and  Puerto  Principe.  Each  has  a  capital  of  the  same  name,  which  is 
more  or  less  a  copy  of  Havana.  One  of  the  most  notable  ports  of 
the  island  is  Baracoa,  which  formerly  was  a  place  much  visited  by 
American  traders  dealing  in  bananas,  cocoanuts  and  chocolate.  In 
one  year  this  port  did  a  business  amounting  to  2,000,000  bunches  of 
bananas  and  4,000,000  cocoanuts,  together  with  large  quantities  of 
other  fruit.  But  since  the  war,  importations  from  Baracoa  practically 
amounted  to  nothing.  The  great  tobacco  district  of  the  island  is  in 
the  Santa  Clara  and  Santiago  de  Cuba  Provinces,  the  former  giving 
what  is  thought  to  be  the  finest  tobacco  in  Cuba.  The  export  from 
this  Province  reached  about  250,000  bales  and  175,000,000  cigars,  but 
like  all  the  other  industries  of  the  island,  it  was  laid  waste  during  the 
war  of  the  insurgents,  and  almost  all  of  the  tobacco  plantations  were 
destroyed. 

The  great  sugar  belt  comprises  the  Provinces  of  Havana,  Santa 
Clara  and  Matanzas,  while  Santiago  de  Cuba  also  has  a  share  of  the 
big  plantations.  Some  idea  may  be  had  of  the  enormous,  production 


WHERE  SUGAR  AND  TOBACCO  GROW  3°9 

of  sugar  in  Cuba,  when  it  is  known  that  the  yield  of  1894  was  1,040,- 
ooo  tons.  As  soon  as  the  regions  which  usually  were  productive  of 
large  harvests  of  sugar  came  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents,  they 
either  burned  the  mills  and  the  houses  on  the  plantations,  or  kept  the 
planters  from  working,  with  the  result  that  in  one  year  after  the 
beginning  of  the  war  the  production  of  sugar  fell  from  over  a  million 
to  225,000  tons,  and,  as  the  war  proceeded,  this  was  greatly  reduced 
until  it  amounted  to  practically  nothing. 

But  such  is  the  remarkable  fertility  of  this  island,  and  such  are 
its  wonderful  resources  that  the  future  seems  promising,  although 
there  is  little  left  of  the  land  but  ruins  since  the  march  of  the  devast- 
ing  insurgent  troops.  Under  the  conditions  which  are  promised  to 
the  beautiful  isle,  when  a  staple  government  has  been  assured  by  the 
United  States,  and  when  the  people  will  be  free  to  carry  on  their 
work  without  fear  of  molestation,  there  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the 
financial  success  of  this  country,  which  has  so  long  been  held  down 
and  kept  from  progressing  by  the  iron  hand  and  the  bloody  rule 
of  Spain. 

17 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Explosion  of  the  "Maine,"  and  War 

Awful  Catastrophe  to  the  Big  Battleship  in  the  Harbor  of  Havana.  Firm  Belief  that 
the  Vessel  was  Blown  up  by  Spaniards. — A  Naval  Board  of  Inquiry. — A  Wave  of 
Feeling  Sweeps  the  Whole  Nation. — McKinley  Places  the  Matter  Before  Congress. 
— War  is  Entered  upon  for  the  Sake  of  Humanity. — The  First  Call  for  Troops.— 
All  the  States  of  the  Union  Respond  Immediately  with  their  Quota  of  Men. — 
The  Mobilization  of  the  American  Army. 

DIPLOMATIC  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Spain 
became  somewhat  strained  in  the  latter  part  of  1897,  through 
the  dissatisfaction  of  Spanish  political  leaders,  with  the  sym 
pathy  manifested  by  the  American  public  toward  the  struggle  of  the 
Cubans  for  independence.  A  number  of  prominent  Americans  had 
made  tours  of  Cuba,  and  others  had  seen  for  themselves  the  situation 
in  Havana  and  its  immediate  vicinity,  and  the  facts  thus  ascertained 
were  laid  before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  in  the  form  of 
reports  or  petitions,  so  vigorously  presented  and  so  eloquently  sup 
ported,  that  many  debates  occurred  in  the  National  Legislature  over 
resolutions  that  had  been  introduced  for  the  recognition  of  the 
Cubans  as  belligerents,  and  more  than  one  effort  was  also  made  to 
secure  American  recognition  of  the  insurgents. 

THE  "MAINE"  SENT  TO  HAVANA. 

The  newspapers  of  both  countries  were  full  of  pointed  and  semi- 
sarcastic  editorials  on  the  opposing  national  attitudes,  and  the  air  was 
full  of  the  possibilities  of  war,  though  the  hope  ran  high  in  the  hearts 
of  thoughtful  people  that  such  a  serious  consequence  might  be 
avoided.  In  the  last  week  in  January,  however,  the  battleship  Maine, 
which  had  been  lying  at  Key  West  with  the  rest  of  the  South  Atlan 
tic  Squadron,  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Havana  at  once.  The  vessel 
left  Key  West  on  January  25,  1898.  The  order  for  her  departure 
had  not  been  heralded  in  advance,  and  there  was  no  time  for  specula- 

JU 


3 1 2  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  ' ' MAINE ' '—  WAR 

tion  as  to  the  why  and  wherefore  of  her  journey  until  she  was  already 
at  the  Cuban  port. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  other  important  officials  at 
Washington  declared  that  the  visit  of  the  warship  to  Havana  meant 
only  the  friendly  relations  with  Spain  were  now  formally  resumed  in 
that  particular,  since  for  some  time  previously  there  had  been  no 
American  war  vessels  in  that  port.  Nevertheless,  the  feeling  was 
strong  that  the  Maine  would  not  have  been  sent  there  unless  Consul- 
General  Fitzhugh  Lee  had  believed  there  was  special  need  for  a  pro 
tector  of  Americans  and  American  interests. 

Officials  of  the  McKinley  Administration  were  quoted  as  having 
said  that  a  mistake  was  made  by  the  Cleveland  Administration  in 
deciding,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Cuban  insurrection,  not  to 
send  any  warships  to  Havana  or  to  permit  any  of  the  naval  vessels 
to  stop  at  that  port  as  they  had  occasionally  been  in  the  habit  of 
doing.  It  was  always  maintained  in  these  utterances  that  the  deci 
sion  to  keep  our  war  vessels  away  from  Havana  was  uncalled  for,  and 
was  a  wholly  unnecessary  concession  to  the  sensibilities  of  the 
Spanish  public.  If  that  decision  had  not  been  reached  by  the  Cleve 
land  Administration  our  warships  could  have  visited  Havana  in  1896 
and  1897  just  as  they  had  done  previously,  and  then  there  would  have 
been  no  thought  that  the  sending  of  the  Maine  to  Havana  in  1898 
was  an  indication  of  trouble  with  Spain. 

It  was  ascertained  that  Consul-General  Lee  had  reported  to  the 
State  Department  that  he  feared  serious  disturbances  might  take 
place  in  Havana  at  any  moment,  and  that,  while  he  would  not  him 
self  take  the  responsibility  of  asking  for  a  warship,  he  wished  the 
Administration  to  understand  that  the  conditions  of  affairs  in  Havana 
was  such  as  might  lead  to  disturbances  almost  any  day,  which  would 
involve  the  lives  of  American  citizens. 

THE    VIEWS    OF    SENOR    DE    LOME. 

The  Spanish  Minister,  De  Lome,  called  at  the  White  House  on 
the  day  that  the  battleship  went  to  Havana,  was  shown  the  orders 
that  had  been  issued  for  the  departure  of  the  Maine,  and  publicly 
expressed  himself  to  the  effect  that,  so  far  as  his  advice  was  con 
cerned,  the  Spanish  Government  would  not  regard  the  sending  of  the 


MAJOR-GENERAL  FITZHUGH  LEE. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  NELSON  APPLETON  MILES. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  WESLEY  MERRITT.  MAJOR-GENERAL  WM.  R.  SHAFTER. 

LEADING  COMMANDERS  OF  OUR  ARMY  IN  THE  SPAN  ISH -AM  ERICAN   WAR. 


DE  LOME  RESIGNS  3  i  5 

Maine  to  Havana  as  a  hostile  act,  or  a  threat  against  the  friendly 
relations  that  were  in  existence  between  the  two  countries.  Still, 
there  was  a  decidedly  uneasy  feeling  throughout  the  country,  not 
because  a  war  with  Spain  was  feared,  but  because  the  people  seemed 
not  to  have  been  taken  into  the  confidence  of  those  who  had  the 
power  to  prevent  war  or  to  bring  it  about. 

Naval  and  army  officers  were  particularly  interested  in  the  mat 
ter,  and  promptly  expressed  themselves  as  confident  that  the  time 
was  near  at  hand  when  the  chance  for  active  service  in  front  of  an 
enemy,  which  is  the  height  of  every  officer's  ambition,  would  not  be 
much  longer  delayed.  The  fact  that  there  was  a  large  fleet  assembled 
at  Key  West,  within  a  few  hours'  run  from  the  port  to  which  the 
Maine  had  been  sent,  and  the  further  fact  that  unusual  activity  was 
being  manifested  in  the  navy  yards  and  arsenals  throughout  the 
country,  gave  color  to  much  of  the  war  talk,  and  turned  all  eyes  in 
the  direction  of  the  Maine,  though  no  one  seemed  to  expect  the  fate 
that  was  about  to  befall  her. 

The  situation  was  rendered  very  much  more  serious  by  the  publi 
cation  in  American  newspapers,  on  February  9,  1898,  of  a  remark 
able  letter  said  to  have  been  written  by  the  Spanish  Minister  in 
Washington.  It  was  addressed  to  a  Spanish  editor  who  was  stop 
ping  at  a  hotel  in  Havana,  and  contained,  among  other  comments  on 
the  American  attitude  toward  the  Cubans,  a  characterization  of  Presi 
dent  McKinley  as  "  weak,  and  catering  to  the  rabble  ;  and,  besides,  a 
low  politician,  who  desires  to  leave  a  door  open  to  me  and  to  stand 
well  with  the  jingoes  of  his  party." 

DE    LOME    RESIGNS. 

This  letter  was  made  public  through  the  Cuban  Junta,  who 
secured  it  at  Havana.  The  Junta  claimed  that  the  receiver  of  the 
letter  was  so  astonished  at  its  contents  that  he  could  not  help  telling 
some  of  his  friends  about  it,  and  that  in  this  way  it  had  come  into 
the  hands  of  their  agents.  The  authenticity  of  the  letter  was  not 
doubted  for  a  moment ;  but  the  officials  at  Washington  promptly 
afforded  Minister  De  Lome  an  opportunity  to  deny  it  if  he  cared  to. 
Nothing  came  from  De  Lome,  however,  and  the  State  Department 
then  sent  a  request  to  him  for  immediate  information  as  to  the  genu- 


316  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"  -WAR 

ineness  of  the  letter.  De  Lome  called  at  the  State  Department. 
He  admitted  that  the  letter  was  genuine,  but  explained  that  the  trans 
lation  was  inaccurate,  and  he  volunteered  the  further  information 
that  he  had  cabled  his  resignation  to  Madrid. 

The  resignation  of  the  Spanish  Minister  was  accepted,  and  he 
withdrew  to  Canada.  The  Spanish  Government  made  a  feeble 
attempt  to  disclaim  responsibility  for  this  gratuitous  insult  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  but  this  incident  filled  the  cup  of  the 
Nation's  patience  almost  to  overflowing,  and  there  was,  therefore, 
less  surprise  manifested  than  would  have  been  the  case  a  week  or  so 
earlier,  when,  on  the  morning  of  February  i6th,  the  whole  world  was 
electrified  by  the  news  of  the  blowing  up  of  the  Maine,  as  she  lay 
moored  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  and  the  loss  of  several  hundred 
lives. 

The  news  of  the  catastrophe  was  officially  communicated  to 
Washington  in  a  message  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  from  Captain 
Sigsbee,  of  the  Maine,  which  was  received  just  after  midnight,  and 
read  as  follows  : 

"  Maine  blown  up  in  Havana  harbor  and  destroyed.  Many 
wounded  and  doubtless  more  killed  and  drowned.  Wounded  and 
others  on  board  Spanish  man-of-war  and  Ward  Line  steamer.  Send 
lighthouse  tenders  from  Key  West  for  crew  and  a  few  pieces  of  equip 
ment  still  above  water.  No  one  has  other  clothes  than  those  upon 
him.  Public  opinion  should  be  suspended  until  further  report.  All 
officers  believed  to  be  saved.  Jenkins  and  Merritt  not  yet  accounted 
for.  Many  Spanish  officers,  including  represensative  of  General 
Blanco,  now  with  me  and  express  sympathy.  SIGSBEE." 

The  first  reports  received  from  the  scene  of  the  disaster  placed 
the  loss  at  something  over  a  hundred,  but  at  that  time  it  was  still 
dark  and  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  more  accurate  information. 
This,  however,  was  bad  enough  as  it  was,  but  when  it  became  known 
that  the  great  majority  of  the  crew  of  the  big  battleship  had  been 
killed  or  drowned,  the  anxiety  for  further  details  was  deep  and 
universal. 

On  the  day  following  the  explosion,  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
total  victims  of  the  disaster  were  264  men  and  2  officers  killed,  and 
many  men  wounded.  The  officers  killed  were  Lieutenant  Friend  W. 


THE  DISASTER  DESCRIBED  BY  AN  EYEWITNESS  317 

Jenkins  and  Assistant  Engineer  Darwin  R.  Merritt.  Captain  Charles 
D.  Sigsbee,  the  Commander,  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Richard 
Wainwright,  were  both  on  board  at  the  time,  and,  with  all  the  other 
officers,  escaped.  The  Navy  Department  was  besieged  with  inquiries 
from  the  friends  of  the  members  of  the  crew,  and  the  whole  Nation 
was  aroused  to  fever  heat  by  the  disaster. 

None  of  the  Government  officials  would  say  that  they  thought 
the  Maine  had  been  purposely  blown  up,  but  thousands  of  citizens  so 
expressed  themselves,  and  there  was  a  general  feeling  throughout 
the  country,  while  waiting  for  further  particulars,  that  if  the  explosion 
was  shown  to  be  due  to  bomb,  torpedo  or  mine,  it  would  mean  noth 
ing  less  than  war  with  Spain. 

The  officers  of  the  Maine,  promptly  recognizing  the  possible  sig 
nificance  of  the  catastrophe,  were  somewhat  reticent  as  to  the  details 
of  the  occurrence.  Various  descriptions  of  the  disaster  were  given, 
but  it  was  some  time  afterward  that  a  perfectly  connected  story  was 
available. 

Lieutenant-Commander  Wainwright,  at  a  quarter  to  10  o'clock 
on  the  night  of  February  I5th,  was  half  undressed  and  was  smoking 
in  his  cabin.  Suddenly  an  explosion  occurred,  which  put  out  the 
electric  lights.  Wainwright  struck  a  match  and  made  his  way  to  the 
adjoining  cabin  of  Captain  Sigsbee.  The  Captain  had  been  thrown 
from  his  bunk,  but  was  uninjured.  Wainwright's  belief  was  that  the 
explosion  was  due  to  a  short-circuited  dynamo.  Captain  Sigsbee  and 
he  hastened  on  deck  and  ordered  a  man  to  flood  2,500  pounds  of  gun 
cotton  which  was  on  board.  The  order  was  carried  out,  but  the  man 
never  returned,  for  by  the  time  he  could  go  to  the  place  where  the 
flood  cocks  were  and  get  back  again  to  the  quarter-deck,  a  second 
explosion  had  taken  place,  and  he  was  undoubtedly  added  to  the 
victims. 

THE     DISASTER    DESCRIBED    BY    AN    EYEWITNESS. 

One  officer  described  the  disaster  as  follows  : 

"  Three  of  us  were  sitting  in  the  mess-room,  when  a  heavy  ex 
plosion  occurred.  We  rushed  on  the  upper  deck  and  found  that 
the  vessel  was  on  fire  and  sinking.  All  efforts  were  then  directed 
toward  lowering  the  boats  and  saving  lives,  but  the  Maine  settled 
quickly  on  the  bottom  of  the  harbor,  only  her  upper  works  remaining 


3  1 8  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  ' ' MAINE ' '  -  WAR 

above  the  water.  Boats  from  the  Spanish  warship  Alfonso  XII,  and 
boats  from  the  Ward  Line  steamer,  City  of  Washington,  came  along 
side  and  rendered  assistance." 

All  the  officers  agreed  that  the  explosion  occurred  somewhere  in 
the  forward  part  of  the  midship  section  of  the  battleship.  Many  of 
the  crew  who  were  below  at  the  time  of  the  first  explosion  were  un 
able  to  escape,  and  those  who  succeeded  in  reaching  the  upper  decks 
saved  their  lives  with  great  difficulty. 

The  Maine,  at  the  time  of  the  explosion,  was  at  anchor,  about 
500  yards  from  the  arsenal,  and  about  200  yards  from  the  floating 
dock.  The  explosion  put  out  the  lights  near  the  wharf,  and  blew 
down  telephone  and  telepraph  wires  in  that  vicinity.  The  smoke 
stacks  of  the  battleship  fell  at  11.30,  The  first  of  the  American 
sailors  to  reach  the  wharf  were  swimming.  Three  of  those  who  thus 
escaped  fell  senseless  just  as  they  reached  a  place  of  safety.  The 
total  number  of  those  saved,  out  of  a  crew  of  350  was  less  than  a 
hundred. 

OTHER    VESSELS    LEND    ASSISTANCE 

Eyewitnesses  of  the  scene  of  the  explosion,  within  a  few  minutes 
after  its  occurrence  painted  striking  word  pictures  of  the  struggles 
of  wounded  men  in  the  water,  and  of  the  excitement  that  prevailed 
in  and  about  the  harbor.  Boats  from  the  Spanish  warship  and 
merchant  vessels,  searching  for  the  wounded,  more  frequently  en 
countered  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  each  hour  seemed  to  add  to 
these  ghastly  accumulations,  until  the  wharves  on  shore  became  open- 
air  morgues,  and  the  victims  of  the  disaster  lay  in  long  rows  side  by 
side,  waiting  for  identification. 

The  wounded  were  taken  to  Key  West  as  rapidly  as  possible,  but 
many  of  the  dead  were  temporarily  buried  in  Havana,  and  in  these 
burials  the  sympathy  of  the  citizens  of  Havana  was  certainly  made 
manifest,  though  the  feeling  of  suspicion  that  the  disaster  was  due  to 
treachery  had  a  strong  hold  in  the  minds  of  the  surviving  sailors  as 
well  as  in  the  minds  of  their  friends  at  home. 

The  interment  of  twenty-two  martyrs  of  the  Maine  took  place  on 
the  afternoon  of  February  17,  1898.  The  flags  on  the  public  build 
ings  of  Havana  were  at  half-mast  and  many  of  the  houses  were  draped 


A  BOARD  OF  INQUIRY  APPOINTED  3  lg 

in  mourning.  All  classes  were  represented  in  the  throngs  that  filled 
the  streets  along  which  the  funeral  procession  passed  to  the  cemetery. 
The  procession  included  the  Municipal  Guards  on  horseback,  the  City 
Fire  Brigade,  representatives  of  various  official  bureaus,  officers  of 
the  Spanish  army  and  navy,  and  committees  representing  the  Cham 
ber  of  Commerce  and  other  trade  organizations. 

BURYING   THE    DEAD. 

The  bodies  rested  in  coffins  in  the  City  Hall,  and  were  profusely 
covered  with  flowers.  A  great  crown  from  the  City  Council  bore 
the  inscription :  "  The  People  of  Havana  to  the  Victims  of  the 
Maine.'"  There  was  also  a  handsome  crown  of  silk  ribbons  in  the 
Spanish  national  colors  with  the  inscription:  "  The  Navy  Department 
at  Havana  to  the  Victims  of  the  Maine"  The  Mayor  of  Havana 
headed  the  funeral  procession  ;  General  Solana  represented  Captain- 
General  Blanco.  The  population  that  lined  the  route  of  the  proces 
sion  gave  every  indication  of  the  profoundest  sympathy. 

Others  of  the  victims  of  the  Maine  were  subsequently  buried  at 
Key  West.  The  bodies  of  many  were  claimed  by  friends  and  taken 
to  their  homes  for  burial.  Many  bodies  were  never  recovered,  and 
some  were  found  by  the  divers  who  subsequently  worked  upon  the 
wreck  of  the  Maine,  wedged  in  between  the  decks,  where  they  had 
met  their  death  by  drowning.  A  few  of  those  who  had  been  picked 
up  in  a  wounded  condition  died  in  the  hospitals,  but  the  great  ma 
jority  of  the  injured  were  only  slightly  hurt  and  rapidly  recovered. 

A    BOARD    OF    INQUIRY    APPOINTED. 

Captain  Sigsbee,  of  the  Maine,  had  asked,  immediately  upon  the 
occurrence  of  the  disaster,  for  a  Board  of  Inquiry  to  determine  the 
cause  of  the  explosion.  This  was  in  line  with  the  usual  custom  of 
commanders  of  vessels  which  have  met  with  any  mishap,  so  that  the 
record  of  the  commander  may  be  established  ;  but  in  this  instance 
there  came  also  a  demand  from  the  entire  American  nation,  and, 
while  the  Board  that  was  appointed  was  officially  named  in  response 
to  Sigbee's  request,  it  was  equally  in  answer  to  the  popular  demand, 
and  its  proceedings  and  findings  were  eagerly  watched  and  waited  for. 


THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"  -WAR 

The  Spanish  authorities  in  Havana,  taking  the  cue  from  those 
higher  in  authority  at  Madrid,  continuously  deplored  the  "  unfor 
tunate  accident"  which  had  befallen  the  Maine,  and  straightway  insti 
tuted  an  investigation  of  their  own,  the  manner  of  conducting  which, 
and  the  subsequent  findings  that  were  promulgated,  all  going  to  show 
that  the  Spanish  Government  had  no  intention  of  listening  for  a  mo 
ment  to  any  theory  concerning  the  affair  except  that  it  was  purely  an 
accidental  occurrence. 

Divers  were  sent  down  into  the  wreck  of  the  battleship  by  the 
Spaniards  secretly,  when  no  other  divers  were  there,  and  on  the 
reports  made  by  these  Spanish  submarine  investigators  a  document 
was  formulated,  which  was  widely  circulated  through  Spanish  official 
channels,  to  the  effect  that  the  Maine  had  been  blown  up  by  an  in 
terior  explosion.  The  wreck  of  the  Maine  was  so  complete,  its  com 
partments  were  so  utterly  shattered,  and  its  constructive  iron  so 
twisted  and  broken,  that  the  Spaniards  found  it  comparatively  easy 
to  mystify  themselves,  if  indeed  they  failed  to  delude  the  rest  of  the 
world. 

Meanwhile,  the  divers  engaged  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  conducted  an  investigation  which  was  scientifically  superin 
tended,  and  the  results  of  which  were  accurately  recorded.  Diagrams 
were  made  for  presentation  to  the  Board  of  Inquiry,  and  nothing  was 
left  undone  that  could  in  any  way  be  expected  to  throw  light  upon  the 
cause  of  the  disaster.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  was 
fully  determined  that  the  truth  should  be  made  known. 

BLOWN    UP    BY    AN    OUTSIDE    EXPLOSION. 

When  the  exact  condition  of  the  wreck  had  been  determined, 
and  when  the  circumstances  came  to  be  considered  in  the  new  light 
afforded  by  the  official  investigation,  naval  engineers  throughout  the 
world,  and  scientific  men  of  international  prominence,  promptly  gave 
it  as  their  opinion  that  the  Maine  had  been  blown  up  from  the  out 
side.  It  then  became  known  that  the  Maine  had  been  moored  at  a 
certain  buoy  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  to  which  she  had  been  con 
ducted  by  a  Spanish  official,  and  it  was  also  ascertained  that  this  buoy 
was  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  if  not  exactly  over,  mines  that  had 
been  placed  in  the  harbor  bottom. 


CAPTAIN  SIGSBEE' S  STOR  Y  321 

One  theory  was  that  the  American  warship  had  been  thus  placed 
with  the  direct  purpose  of  accomplishing  her  destruction.  Others 
accepted  that  portion  of  this  theory  which  included  the  destruction  of 
the  vessel,  but  were  charitable  enough  to  say  that  perhaps  Spain's 
managers  of  the  affair  did  not  intend  to  explode  the  mines  except  in 
the  event  of  war  being  declared  between  the  two  countries. 

This  left  it  an  open  question  for  the  public  mind  as  to  whether 
the  Maine  had  been  blown  up  by  a  secret  order  on  the  part  of  the 
Government,  or  whether  some  over-enthusiastic  individual  enemy  of 
the  United  States  had  exploded  a  mine  beneath  her  bottom  without 
waiting  for  orders.  There  was  considerable  talk  about  torpedoes, 
and  about  electric  connections  with  the  shore  batteries,  but  there  had 
been  ample  time  for  every  outward  evidence  of  treachery  to  be 
removed  before  the  official  American  investigation  began,  and  it  only 
remained  for  the  Board  of  Inquiry  to  establish  the  nature  of  the  ex 
plosion  and  leave  the  world  to  judge  as  to  its  cause. 

On  February  i8thr  three  days  after  the  explosion,  Congress  ap 
propriated  $200,000  for  the  employment  of  divers,  for  the  raising  of 
the  vessel  if  it  was  found  practicable,  and  for  the  preliminary  expenses 
of  the  Court  of  Inquiry.  On  February  2oth  the  divers  began  their 
work  ;  on  the  25th  the  Court  of  Inquiry  began  its  investigations  at 
Havana,  and  on  the  22d  Consul-General  Lee  informally  advised 
Americans  not  necessarily  detained  in  Cuba  to  leave  for  home  at 
once. 

CAPTAIN  SIGSBEE'S  STORY. 

The  sessions  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry  were  held  behind  closed 
doors.  The  first  witness  was  Captain  Sigsbee.  The  record  of  the 
testimony  was  strictly  guarded  until  the  conclusion  of  the  investiga 
tion,  but  when  once  an  officer  had  been  a  witness  before  the  Court, 
he  seemed  to  be  at  liberty  to  speak  more  freely  of  experiences  on 
that  dreadful  night. 

Captain  Sigsbee  himself,  after  being  a  witness,  told  to  corre 
spondents  in  Havana  the  following  story  of  his  vessel's  destruction. 
He  said  :  "  I  find  it  impossible  to  describe  the  sound  or  shock,  but 
the  impression  remains  of  something  awe-inspiring,  terrifying,  noise- 
rendering,  vibrating,  all-pervading.  There  was  nothing  in  the  former 
experience  of  anyone  on  board  to  measure  the  explosion  by. 


3  2  2  THE  EXPL  OSION  OF  THE  ' ' MAINE ' '—  WAR 

11  After  the  first  great  shock,  I  cannot  myself  recall  how  many 
sharper  detonations  I  heard,  but  it  was  not  more  than  two  or  three. 
I  knew  my  ship  was  gone.  In  such  a  structure  as  the  Maine,  the 
effects  of  such  an  explosion  are  not  for  a  moment  in  doubt.  I  made 
my  way  through  the  long  passage,  in  the  dark,  groping  from  side  to 
side,  to  the  hatchway  and  thence  to  the  poop  deck,  being  among  the 
earliest  to  reach  that  spot." 

"  So  soon  as  I  recognized  the  officers,  I  ordered  high  explosives 
to  be  flooded,  and  I  then  directed  that  the  boats  available  be  lowered 
to  rescue  the  wounded  or  drowning.  Discipline,  in  a  perfect  measure, 
prevailed.  There  was  no  more  confusion  than  a  call  to  general 
quarters  would  produce,  if  as  much.  I  soon  saw,  by  the  light  of  the 
flames,  that  all  my  officers  and  crew  left  alive  and  on  board,  sur 
rounded  me." 

"  I  cannot  form  any  idea  of  the  time,  but  it  seemed  five  minutes 
from  the  time  I  reached  the  poop  until  I  left,  the  last  man  it  was  pos 
sible  to  reach  having  been  saved.  It  must  have  been  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  or  more,  however,  from  the  amount  of  work  done.  I 
remember  the  officers  and  men  worked  together,  lowering  the  boats, 
and  that  the  gig  took  some  time  to  lower." 

PLACED  ABOVE  THE  FATAL  MINE. 

Captain  Sigsbee  testified  before  the  Court  of  Inquiry  that  an 
investigation  was  sometimes  made  of  the  bottoms  of  harbors  in  which 
men-of-war  are  moored,  but  that  in  connection  with  the  mooring  of 
the  Maine  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  presumably  the  port  of  a  friendly 
power,  he  had  taken  the  berth  officially  assigned  without  question  as  to 
its  safety;  but  that  he  had  taken  the  usual  precautions  against  attack. 
The  quarter-watch  being  ordered  to  have  ammunition  for  the  smaller 
guns  ready  to  hand,  so  that,  in  the  improbable  event  of  an  attack  on 
the  ship,  it  would  have  been  found  ready.  This  ammunition  exploded 
when  the  heat  reached  it,  and  is  supposed  to  account  for  the  detona 
tion  that  occurred  after  the  two  first  and  greater  explosions. 

From  the  testimony  of  other  officers,  it  was  learned  that  the 
usual  rounds  of  the  ship  had  been  made  at  eight  bells  on  that  fatal 
evening,  and  everything  had  been  reported  all  right.  There  was 
nothing  in  prospect  but  another  night  of  untroubled  dreams.  One 


SPAIN  PREPARES  FOR  TRO  UBLE  3  2  5 

of  the  seamen  testified  that,  looking  over  the  side  in  the  dark,  at 
about  half  past  nine,  he  fancied  he  saw  a  black  shining  object  silently 
approaching  the  vessel,  but  it  was  supposed  that  the  man's  mind  had 
probably  been  set  on  edge  by  the  gossip  of  his  mates,  and  that  he  was 
perhaps  over-keen  to  scent  danger.  He  testified  that  he  was  about  to 
give  warning  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  when  the  explosion  occurred. 
The  whole  forward  part  of  the  ship  seemed  to  be  lifted  from  the 
water.  Then  followed  the  second  explosion  with  outflaming. 

The  crash  had  been  so  terrific  as  to  deprive  some  who  heard  it 
of  their  reason,  to  stun  others,  to  astound  many,  but  for  250  gallant 
seamen  it  was,  if  they  heard  it  at  all,  the  last  sound  that  was  to  ring 
in  their  ears  in  this  world.  The  portholes  of  nearby  ships  were 
smashed  in,  also  the  windows  of  houses  facing  the  harbor.  The 
lights  on  the  water  front  were  extinguished.  Great  masses  of  the 
vessel's  iron  substance  were  torn  from  her,  and  sent  flying  through 
the  air.  Some  witnesses  testified  to  having  heard  an  awful  chorus  of 
groans  from  those  not  yet  dead  but  dying  between  the  vessel's  decks. 

As  the  hearings  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry  drew  near  their  close, 
more  and  more  secrecy  was  maintained  in  regard  to  the  evidence. 
This  led  to  the  belief  that  developments  were  being  made-  that 
threatened  the  peace  of  the  nations.  Consul-General  Lee's  advice  to 
Americans  in  Cuba,  that  they  had  better  get  off  of  the  island  as  soon 
as  possible,  particularly  annoyed  the  Spaniards,  and  an  urgent 
effort  was  made  at  Madrid  to  get  United  States  Minister  Woodford 
to  suggest  General  Lee's  recall.  This  effort,  however,  signally  failed, 
and  the  temper  of  the  American  people  in  the  emergency  was  magni 
ficently  manifested,  on  March  8th,  when  Congress  voted  unanimously 
for  a  defense  fund  of  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  which  President 
McKinley  was  authorized  to  expend  as  he  might  deem  best  in  the 
interest  of  peace  or  war,  as  the  case  might  be 

SPAIN    PREPARES    FOR    TROUBLE. 

Nor  was  Spain  lying  upon  her  oars  in  the  matter  of  preparation. 
She  was  making  strenuous  efforts  to  purchase  warships,  and  to  pro 
vide  for  a  big  war  loan.  Another  thing  that  she  undertook  at  this 
time  was  to  create  an  impressive  moral  effect  by  dispatching  a  fleet 
of  vessels  westward,  as  if  to  let  the  Americans  see  that  she  was  ready 


THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"— WAR 

for  anything  that  might  happen.  It  turned  out,  however,  that  the 
destination  of  this  fleet  was  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and  the  length 
of  time  it  remained  at  those  islands,  subsequently  gave  it  the  name 
of  the  Cape  Verde  Fleet,  and  this  was  the  fleet  that  really  did  venture 
further  west  several  months  later,  and  never  went  back. 

The  Maine  Court  of  Inquiry  finished  its  work  on  March  iQth, 
and  a  summary  of  its  findings  was  forwarded  to  the  President  and  the 
Navy  Department  on  the  following  day.  Then  followed  more  than 
a  week  of  delay,  during  which  time  every  detail  of  the  report  was 
carefully  considered  by  the  Cabinet,  and  after  this  consideration  had 
been  taken,  the  report  in  full,  with  all  the  evidence  taken,  was,  on 
March  28th,  submitted  to  Congress.  Meanwhile,  all  vessels  of  the 
American  Navy  were  donning  their  smoke-colored  warpaint,  and 
everybody's  mind  was  being  made  up  to  the  fact  that  war  was  in 
evitable. 

The  tension  of  feeling  throughout  the  nation  was  so  great  at 
this  time  that  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Inquiry  was  not  altogether 
satisfactory.  It  positively  declared  that  the  explosion  by  which  the 
Maine  was  wrecked  was  external,  but  it  was  impossible  for  the  Board 
to  make  any  statement  as  to  the  responsibility.  This  omission  was 
the  part  that  failed  to  give  universal  satisfaction  ;  but  subsequent 
events  developed  the  fact  that  the  Administration  felt  that  there  were 
grounds  for  war,  if  war  must  come,  even  grander  and  more  praise 
worthy  than  any  that  could  be  based  upon  the  idea  of  revenge  for  a 
national  insult,  or  of  reprisal  for  loss  of  life. 

THE  REPORT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  INQUIRY. 

In  any  event  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Inquiry  was  submitted 
without  attempt  to  fix  the  responsibility,  though  the  public  was  left 
free  to  draw  its  own  conclusions  from  the  findings.  These  findings 
were  substantially  as  follows  : 

1.  That  the  battleship  Maine  was  conducted  to  buoy  No.  4  in 
the  harbor  of  Havana  by  the  regular  Government  pilot,  and  that  the 
United  States  Consul-General  at  Havana  had  notified  the  authori 
ties,  on  the  previous  evening,  of  the   intended   arrival  of  the  Maine. 

2.  The  state  of  discipline  on  board  the  Maine  was  excellent,  and 
all  orders  and   regulations  in  regard  to  the  care  and  safety  of  the 


THE  REPORT  OF  THE  BOARD  OP  INQUIRY       32; 

vessel  were  strictly  carried  out.  The  fire  alarms  were  in  working 
order,  and  there  had  never  been  a  case  of  spontaneous  combustion 
of  coal  on  board.  On  the  night  of  the  destruction  of  the  Maine, 
everything  had  been  reported  secure  for  the  night  at  8  r.M.  by  reli 
able  persons,  through  the  proper  authorities,  to  the  commanding 
officer ;  and,  at  the  time  of  the  explosion,  the  vessel  was  quiet,  and, 
therefore,  least  liable  to  accidents  caused  by  movements  from  those 
on  board. 

3.  The  destruction  of  the  Maine  occurred  at  9.40  P.M.  on  Feb 
ruary  15,  1898,  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  Cuba,  she  being  at  that 
time  moored  to  the  same  buoy  to  which  she  had  been  taken  upon  her 
arrival.     There  were  two  explosions.     By  the  first,  the  forward  part 
of  the  ship  was  lifted  to  a  marked  degree.      The  second   explosion 
was,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  caused  by  the  partial  explosion  of 
two  or  more  of  the  forward  magazines. 

4.  That  portion   of  the  portside  of   the  protected   deck,  which 
extends  from  about  frame  30  to  about  frame  41,  was  blown  up  aft  and 
over  to  port.     The  main  deck,  from  about  frame  30  to  about  frame 
41,  was  blown  up  aft  and  slightly  over  to  starboard,  folding  the  for 
ward  part  of  the  middle  superstructure  over  and  on  top  of  the  after- 
part. 

5.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  these  effects  and  others  devel 
oped  in  evidence  could  have  been  produced  only  by  the  explosion  of 
a  mine  situated  under  the  bottom  of  the  ship  at  about  frame  18,  and 
somewhat  on  the  portside. 

6.  The  Court  finds  that  the  loss  of  the  Maine  was  not,  in  any 
respect,  due  to  fault  or  negligence  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  officers 
or  members  of  the  crew. 

7.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  the  Maine  was  destroyed  by  the 
explosion  of  a  submarine  mine,  which  caused  the  partial  explosion  of 
two  or  more  of  her  forward  magazines. 

8.  The  Court   has    been  unable  to   obtain  evidence,  fixing  the 
responsibility  for  the  destruction  of  the  Maine  upon  any  person  or 
persons. 

The  report  was  signed  by  Captain  W.  T.  Sampson,  U.  S.  N., 
President,  and  Lieutenant-Commander  A.  Marix,  U.  S.  N.,  Judge- 
Advocate,  and  the  proceedings  and  findings  of  the  Court  were 


328  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"  -WAR 

approved    by    Rear- Admiral    Sicard,     Commander-in-Chief    of    the 
United  States  Naval  force  on  the  North  Atlantic  Station. 

No  further  evidence  has  been  officially  recorded  as  to  the  cause 
of  the  explosion  ;  but  many  stories  were  subsequently  circulated  in 
apparent  confirmation  of  popular  opinion  that  Spain  should  have 
been  held  responsible.  One  of  these  stories  was  to  the  effect  that 
dynamite  had  been  purchased  in  England  by  private  agents  of  General 
Weyler,  and  that  it  was  to  the  desire  of  his  friends  to  resent  his  recall 
from  Cuba  that  the  disaster  to  the  Maine  was  due. 

CONGRESS    STIRRED    TO    ACTION. 

The  United  States  Government  authorities,  however,  studiously 
avoided  laying  the  blame  for  the  explosion  at  the  door  of  Spain,  but 
there  was  no  cessation  of  the  preparations  for  war.  Members  of  the 
Senate  and  of  the  House  of  Representatives  emphatically  declared 
that  the  time  had  come  for  America  to  intervene  in  Cuban  affairs, 
and,  within  two  or  three  days  after  the  report  of  the  Board  of 
Inquiry  was  made  public,  resolutions  to  that  effect  were  introduced 
in  both  houses  of  the  National  Legislature. 

Senator  Foraker,  of  Ohio,  on  March  3Oth,  presented  resolutions 
recognizing  the  independence  of  Cuba,  and  favoring  armed  interven 
tion.  He  declared  that  autonomy  had  absolutely  failed,  and  that  just 
as  this  failure  was  realized  the  country  was  confronted  by  the  De 
Lome  incident.  Scarcely  had  this  begun  to  attract  less  interest  when 
the  explosion  of  the  Maine  threw  the  country  into  a  hurricane  oi 
excitement,  but  that  the  proper  action  for  Congress  to  take  was  upon 
the  general  Cuban  question. 

Senator  Frye,  of  Maine,  also  introduced  a  resolution,  based  on 
the  declaration  that  the  war  in  Cuba  had  been  conducted  by  the 
Spanish  Government  in  violation  of  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare  ; 
that  the  President  be  authorized  "  to  take  such  effective  steps  as,  in 
his  discretion,  may  be  necessary  to  secure  a  speedy  termination  of 
the  hostilities  between  the  Government  of  Spain  and  the  people  of 
Cuba,  the  withdrawal  of  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  Spain  from 
said  island,  and  the  complete  independence  of  said  people." 

Senator  Rawlins,  of  Utah,  offered  a  resolution  for  the  recogni 
tion  of  Cuba's  independence,  and  for  a  declaration  of  war  against 


ALL  POWERS  STRIVE  FOR  PEACE  329 

Spain.  Senator  Allen,  of  Nebraska,  introduced  a  resolution  recog 
nizing  the  independence  of  Cuba,  and  that  the  United  States  should 
immediately  intervene  and  put  an  end  to  the  war  that  was  being 
waged  by  the  Spaniards  against  the  citizens  of  that  island.  Similar 
resolutions  were  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  all 
being  referred  to  the  Committees  on  Foreign  Affairs,  with  instruc 
tions  for  an  early  report. 

ALL    POWERS    STRIVE    FOR    PEACE. 

Spain  began  to  have  inquiries  made  through  devious  diplomatic 
channels  as  to  what  would  satisfy  the  United  States  in  regard  to 
Spanish  conduct  of  Cuban  affairs.  Several  propositions  passed  back 
ward  and  forward,  unofficially,  and  there  was  every  evidence  of  an 
effort  on  the  part  of  Spain  to  gain  more  time.  Meanwhile,  there  was 
a  great  rush  at  all  the  navy  yards.  The  squadron  at  Key  West,  of 
which  the  Maine  had  been  a  part,  was  rapidly  put  into  fighting  trim. 

The  Spanisli  vessels  Viscaya  and  Almiranie  Oquendo,  which  had 
been  in  Havana  harbor  since  a  few  days  after  the  destruction  of  the 
Maine,  withdrew  to  Porto  Rico,  and  thence  to  the  Canaries,  being 
subsequently  attached  to  the  Cape  Verde  fleet  under  command  of 
Admiral  Cervera. 

Representatives  of  the  great  powers  called  upon  the  Secretary  of 
State  at  Washington  in  the  interest  of  peace,  but,  recognizing  at  once 
the  trend  of  events,  reported  their  opinions  to  their  home  Govern 
ments,  and  the  importunities  of  the  powers  were  then  directed  toward 
influencing  Spain  to  see  the  folly  of  allowing  war  to  be  declared. 

The  excuse  put  forward  by  Spain  for  not  agreeing  to  the  sugges 
tions  of  the  United  States  was  that  the  Spanish  dynasty  would  be 
imperiled  by  the  rising  of  the  people  in  revolution  if  too  great  con 
cessions  were  made  in  Cuba.  The  powers,  however,  agreed  to  take 
care  of  the  dynasty  and  to  keep  down  rebellion  if  Spain  would  give 
up;  but  Sagasta  refused  to  negotiate  for  the  preservation  of  peace, 
Minister  Woodford  prepared  to  leave  Madrid,  and  it  became  plainly 
apparent  early  in  April  that  the  United  States  Consul-General  could 
be  of  no  more  service  in  Havana. 

On  the  evening  of  April  Qth,  General  Lee  and  his  staff  left 
Havana  on  board  the  lighthouse  tender  Fern.  The  wharf  was 


330  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"-  WAR 

crowded,  but  no  discourtesy  was  shown.  General  Lee  had  called  at 
the  palace  of  the  Governor-General  to  say  good-bye  to  General 
Blanco,  but  the  Governor-General  was  very  busy  and  could  not 
receive  General  Lee.  The  American  flag"  upon  the  Consulate  Build 
ing  was  taken  down  by  consular  employees  during  the  afternoon,  and 
American  interests  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  British  Consul.  A 
great  many  Americans  accompanied  General  Lee  from  the  Cuban 
capital,  but  Havana  seemed  to  be  absolutely  indifferent  to  the 
evacuation. 

AN    ARMISTICE    TO    INSURGENTS. 

On  the  same  day  that  General  Lee  quitted  Havana,  the  Spanish 
Cabinet  decided  to  grant  an  armistice  to  the  insurgents  in  Cuba.  The 
Ambassadors  of  foreign  powers  had  induced  the  Spaniards  to  make 
this  concession  in  the  hope  of  averting  the  war.  The  conditions  of 
the  armistice  were  to  be  the  withdrawal  of  the  American  squadrons 
from  Cuba  and  the  Philippines.  The  armistice  was  to  last  for  five 
days.  The  temper  of  the  American  Congress,  however,  was  not  favor 
able  to  any  deviation  from  the  programme  that  had  been  laid  clown. 
Prominent  leaders  of  both  political  parties  insisted  that  Congressional 
action  should  be  taken  regardless  of  the  armistice,  and  it  was  also 
necessary  for  the  Cubans  to  be  communicated  with  in  regard  to  the 
proposed  cessation  of  fighting. 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  authorities  in  Madrid  appeared  to 
imagine  that  armistice  meant  peace,  for  they  still  believed  there  would 
be  some  way  found  for  them  to  meet  America's  demands  and  still 
retain  sovereignty  in  Cuba;  but,  on  April  nth,  President  McKin- 
ley  sent  to  Congress  his  famous  message  asking  for  power  to  inter 
vene  in  Cuba.  The  message  referred  to  the  fearful  starving  and 
desolation  which  had  followed  General  Weyler's  policy  of  devastation 
and  concentration  ;  it  denounced  the  policy  of  reconcentration  as 
uncivilized ;  and  it  opposed  the  recognition  of  the  belligerency  of  the 
insurgents,  or  the  recognition,  at  this  time,  of  the  independence  of 
the  present  insurgent  Government. 

The  President  declared  forcible  intervention  to  stop  the  war  to 
be  justifiable  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  for  the  protection  of  our 
citizens,  and  to  prevent  further  loss  to  our  commerce  and  trade.  He 
spoke  of  the  inexpressible  horror  over  the  destruction  of  the  Maine; 


THE  RESULT  OP  THE  MESSAGE  331 

and  referred  to  the  report  of  the  Naval  Court  of  Inquiry  as  com 
manding  the  unqualified  confidence  of  the  Government,  adding  that 
the  only  hope  of  relief  and  repose  from  a  condition,  which  could  no 
longer  be  endured,  was  the  enforced  pacification  of  Cuba. 

"  In  the  name  of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  civilization,  in  behalf 
of  endangered  American  interests,  which  give  us  the  right  and  the 
duty  to  speak  and  to  act,"  said  the  President,  "  the  war  in  Cuba  must 
stop.  In  view  of  these  facts  and  of  these  considerations,  I  ask  the 
Congress  to  authorize  and  to  empower  the  President  to  take  measures 
to  secure  a  full  and  final  termination  of  hostilities  between  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Spain  and  the  people  of  Cuba,  and  to  secure  in  the 
island  the  establishment  of  a  stable  government,  capable  of  main 
taining  order  and  of  observing  its  international  obligations,  ensuring 
peace  and  tranquility,  and  the  security  of  its  citizens  as  well  as  our 
own,  and  to  use  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States 
as  may  be  necessary  for  these  purposes." 

THE    RESULT    OF    THE    MESSAGE. 

The  President's  message  was  referred  to  the  Committees  on 
Foreign  Affairs  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  was  taken  under 
consideration  in  connection  with  the  various  resolutions  for  interven 
tion  and  recognition  which  had  recently  been  introduced,  and,  on 
April  1 8th,  a  joint  resolution  was  agreed  upon.  The  Senate  had 
declared  for  recognition,  but  the  House  had  directly  sustained  the 
President  in  his  views  upon  this  question,  and  the  result  was  a  non- 
recognition  measure,  the  full  text  of  which  was  as  follows  : 

WHEREAS,  The  abhorrent  conditions  which  have  existed  for 
more  than  three  years  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  so  near  to  our  own 
borders,  have  shocked  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  have  been  a  disgrace  to  Christian  civilization,  culminating,  as 
they  have,  in  the  destruction  of  a  United  States  battleship,  with  two 
hundred  and  sixty-six  of  its  officers  and  crew,  while  on  a  friendly  visit 
in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  and  cannot  longer  be  endured,  as  has  been 
set  forth  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  his  Message  to 
Congress  of  April  n,  1898,  upon  which  the  action  of  Congress  was 
invited  ;  therefore, 


332  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  ' 'MAINE ' '—  WAR 

Resolved,  By  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled— 

First. — That  the  people  of  the  Island  of  Cuba  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent. 

Second. — That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  demand, 
and  the  Government  of  the  States  does  hereby  demand,  that  the 
Government  of  Spain  at  once  relinquish  its  authority  and  govern 
ment  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and  withdraw  its  land  and  naval  forces 
from  Cuba  and  Cuban  waters. 

Third. — That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he 
hereby  is,  directed  and  empowered  to  use  the  entire  land  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to  call  into  the  actual  service  of  the 
United  States  the  militia  of  the  several  States,  to  such  extent  as  may 
be  necessary  to  carry  these  resolutions  into  effect. 

Fourth. — That  the  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any  disposi 
tion  or  intention  to  exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdiction  or  control  over 
said  Island  except  for  the  pacification  thereof  ;  and  asserts  its  deter 
mination  when  that  is  accomplished  to  leave  the  government  and 
control  of  the  Island  to  its  people. 

The  adoption  of  this  resolution  was  looked  upon  at  home  and 
abroad  as  a  practical  declaration  of  war,  and  the  preparations  which 
had  been  rapidly  pushed  forward  since  the  destruction  of  the  Maine, 
now  began  to  be  rushed  at  high  speed.  The  President  signed  the 
joint  resolution  of  Congress  on  April  2Oth,  and  the  Government's 
ultimatum  was  forwarded  to  Spain  on  the  same  day.  Spain  was  given 
three  days  in  which  to  make  a  satisfactory  reply,  but  Minister  Polo  y 
Barnabe,  who  had  succeeded  DeLome  temporarily,  withdrew  to 
Canada.  On  April  2ist,  Minister  Woodford  was  handed  his  pass 
ports  at  Madrid,  before  the  American  ultimatum  was  presented,  and 
he  promptly  left  the  Spanish  capital.  On  the  following  day,  April  22d, 
orders  were  given  the  American  fleet  at  Key  West  and  the  Flying 
Squadron  to  seek  the  fleet  of  Spain,  which  was  supposed  to  be  on  its 
way  across  the  ocean,  and  on  the  same  day  President  McKinley  issued 
a  call  for  troops,  summoning  125,000  men  for  service  in  Cuba. 

This  call  was  in  the  form  of  a  proclamation,  as  follows  : 


THE   PEACE  COMMISSIONERS. 

Appointed  September  9,  1898.     Met  Spanish  Commissioners  at  Paris,  October  ist.     Treaty  of  Peace  signed  by  the  Commis« 
sioners  at  Paris,  December  loth,  and  ratified  by  the  United  States  Senate  at  Washington,  February  6th,  1899 


A  PROCLAMATION  335 

By  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

WHEREAS,  By  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  approved  on  the 
2oth  day  of  April,  1898,  entitled,  "Joint  Resolution  for  the  Recogni 
tion  of  the  Independence  of  the  People  of  Cuba,  Demanding  that  the 
Government  of  Spain  Relinquish  its  Authority  and  Government  in 
the  Island  of  Cuba,  to  Withdraw  Its  Land  and  Naval  Forces  from 
Cuba  and  Cuban  Waters,  and  directing  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  use  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  to  carry 
these  resolutions  into  effect  "  ;  and, 

WHEREAS,  By  an  Act  of  Congress,  entitled  "  An  Act  to  provide 
for  temporarily  increasing  the  military  establishment  of  the  United 
States  in  time  of  war  and  for  other  purposes,"  approved  April  22, 
1898,  the  President  is  authorized  in  order  to  raise  a  volunteer  army 
to  issue  his  proclamation  calling  for  volunteers  to  serve  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States. 

Now,  THEREFORE,  I,  William  McKinley,  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  vested  in  me  by  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws,  and  deeming  sufficient  occasion  to  exist,  have  thought  fit  to 
call  for,  and  hereby  do  call  for,  volunteers  to  the  aggregate  number 
of  125,000  in  order  to  carry  into  effect  the  purpose  of  the  said  resolu 
tion,  the  same  to  be  apportioned,  as  far  as  practicable,  among  the 
several  States  and  Territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  accord 
ing  to  the  population,  and  to  serve  for  two  years,  unless  sooner  dis 
charged.  The  details  of  this  object  will  be  immediately  communi 
cated  to  the  proper  authorities  through  the  War  Department. 

IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  23d  day  of  April,  A.D., 
1898,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  i22d. 

[SEAL]  WILLIAM  McKiNLEY. 

By  the  President. 

JOHN  SHERMAN,  Secretary  of  State. 

Among  the  lasting  glories  of  the  United  States  of  America,  will 
ever  be  prominent  the  manner  in  which  all  the  States  of  the  Union 
responded  to  this  call  for  national  defenders.  The  quota  of  each 


336  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"  -WAR 

State  was  fixed  according  to  the  population  of  those  of  the  militia 
age.  On  this  basis  the  State  of  New  York  was  to  furnish  12,512 
volunteers;  Pennsylvania,  10,762;  Illinois,  8,048;  Ohio,  7,248; 
Missouri,  5,411  ;  and  all  other  States  in  the  same  proportion,  down 
to  351  men  from  Delaware;  237  from  Nevada;  231  from  Wyoming; 
181  from  Arizona,  and  142  from  Oklahoma. 

These  volunteers  were  speedily  mobilized  at  central  points  in 
their  respective  States,  and  everything  possible  was  done  to  perfect 
their  equipment.  The  members  of  the  State  Guards  went  into  camp 
under  their  own  officers,  and  all,  officers  and  men,  were  submitted  to 
a  rigorous  physical  examination.  The  response  to  the  call  had  been 
so  generous,  that  the  War  Department  determined  to  take  only  those 
who  were  best  fitted  for  the  arduous  service  which  was  to  be  expected 
of  them  in  Cuba.  The  result  was  that  the  ranks  of  the  State  Guards, 
though  they  had  been  only  slightly  impaired  by  failure  to  volunteer, 
were  considerably  thinned  by  the  weeding  done  by  the  regular  army 
surgeons.  So  eager  were  men  in  all  parts  of  the  country  to  have  a 
chance  to  fight  against  Spain,  that  all  sorts  of  subterfuges  were  resorted 
to  in  the  hope  of  deceiving  the  examiners  in  regard  to  actual  physical 
conditions,  but  the  weeding  out  was  successfully  accomplished,  the 
vacancies  in  the  State  regiments  were  filled  by  men  selected  through 
the  same  process,  and  the  result  was  as  fine  a  body  of  men  as  ever 
enlisted  for  any  service  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

THE    FIRST    STATE    TO    REPORT. 

The  first  State  to  complete  her  quota  was  Pennsylvania,  not 
withstanding  the  fact  that  hers  was  second  only  to  New  York  in 
point  of  numbers.  The  Keystone  soldiers  were  mobilized  at  Mt. 
Gretna,  the  site  of  the  annual  State  encampments,  forty  miles  from 
Harrisburg,  The  President's  call  had  been  issued  on  April  2ist  ;  on 
April  28th,  the  entire  National  Guard  of  Pennsylvania  was  in  camp, 
and  within  thirty  days  its  ten  thousand  men  had  been  selected,  uni 
formed  and  equipped,  and  many  of  them  were  on  their  way  to  camps 
of  preparation  nearer  to  Cuba,  while  one  of  its  regiments,  the  Tenth, 
was  already  on  its  way  to  Manila. 

And  what  Pennsylvania  had  accomplished  was  approximated  in 
the  other  states  throughout  the  Union.  Camps  of  preparations 


WAR  IS  DECLARED  337 

were  established  at  Falls  Church,  Va.,  near  the  historical  battlefield 
of  Bull  Run,  and  in  the  National  Military  Park  at  Chickamauga,  Ga., 
which  had  been  the  scene  of  memorable  battles  during  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion,  Other  temporary  camps  of  further  preparation  were 
established  at  different  points,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  troops 
were  eventually  mobilized  at  these  two  most  important  rendezvous, 
and  from  them  the  different  regiments  were  forwarded  to  Tampa, 
Charleston,  Newport  News,  and  other  ports  from  which  embarkation 
was  subsequently  made  for  service  in  Cuba.  The  bulk  of  the  troops 
that  went  to  Manila  was  selected  from  the  Western  States,  the 
Tenth  Pennsylvania  being  the  only  volunteer  regiment  to  serve  in 
that  campaign  from  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  regiments  of  the  regular  army  were  perfected  in  numbers 
and  equipment,  and  these  were  the  nucleus  of  the  army  corps,  which 
were  organized  for  the  earliest  service.  The  First  Corps,  however, 
under  Major-General  Brooke,  which  was  organized  at  Camp  Thoinas, 
Chickamauga,  was  made  up  entirely  of  volunteers,  but  the  Second 
Corps,  which  did  such  gallant  service  before  Santiago,  under  General 
Shafter,  was  made  up  largely  of  regulars,  but  with  a  grand  leaven  of 
volunteers  who  fully  shared  the  honors  of  that  eventful  campaign. 
Many  officers  who  had  been  prominent  in  the  Civil  War  were  given 
commissions  as  general  officers  in  the  volunteer  service.  Among 
them  were  General  Joseph  Wheeler,  who  had  been  the  great  cavalry 
leader  of  the  Rebellion,  General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  of  Va.,  General 
Gordon,  of  Georgia,  and  others.  Soldiers  of  all  states  were  equally 
eager.  There  was  no  longer  any  North  or  South,  East  or  West.  It 
was  one  flag  and  one  country,  and  "  On  to  Cuba"  was  the  cry. 

WAR    IS    DECLARED. 

These  unmistakable  preparations  constituted  a  declaration  of 
war  in  themselves,  but,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  complications  that 
might  arise  in  connection  with  blockades,  etc.,  President  McKinley, 
recommended  and  Congress  passed,  on  April  24th,  a  bill,  as  follows : 

"  First. — That  war  be,  and  the  same  hereby  is,  declared  to  exist, 
and  that  war  has  existed  since  the  2ist  day  of  April,  A.D.,  1898,  in 
cluding  said  day,  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the 
Kingdom  of  Spain. 


338  THE  EXPLOSION  OF  THE  "MAINE"— WAR 

"Second. — That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he 
hereby  is,  directed  and  empowered  to  use  the  entire  land  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to  call  into  actual  service  of  the 
United  States,  the  militia  of  the  several  States  to  such  an  extent  as 
may  be  necessary  to  carry  this  bill  into  effect." 

Then  followed  the  active  operations  that  were  conducted  by  the 
Navy  upon  the  Atlantic  coast  and  far  away  among  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific.  The  victory  of  Admiral  Dewey  over  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the 
harbor  of  Manila,  on  May  ist,  seemed  to  set  the  pace  for  the  rest  of 
the  war.  The  news  of  this  glorious  achievement  stirred  the  hearts 
of  every  American  to  such  an  extent  that  all  efforts  against  the 
national  enemy  seemed  to  have  been  accelerated  thereby.  The  plans 
of  the  War  Department  began  more  rapidly  to  mature,  and  the  naval 
vessels  in  the  vicinity  of  Havana  could  scarce  restrain  their  impulse 
to  make  a  decisive  onslaught,  but  the  Administration  had  the  situa 
tion  well  in  hand,  and  the  advance  of  the  army  and  navy  was  near  at 
hand. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Campaign   in  Cuba 

A  Close  Blockade  Established  at  Havana.— The  First  Shot  of  the  War.— The 
Buena  Ventura  Captured  as  the  Initial  Prize  of  the  Conflict. — The  First  Death 
of  the  War. — Ensign  WorthBagley,  of  the  Torpedo  Boat  Winslow,  Killed.— 
Admiral  Cervera's  Fleet  Leaves  Spain  for  the  Cape  Verde  Islands. — A  Period  of 
Search  and  Apprehension. — The  Spanish  Vessels  Reach  Santiago. — Commodore 
Schley  Bottles  up  the  Fleet  in  Santiago  Harbor.  —  "I've  got  them,  and  they  Will 
Never  Get  out  Alive."  —  Sampson  takes  Charge  of  the  Blockade. — Lieutenant 
Hobson's  Daring  Deed  of  Heroism. — The  Brilliant  Young  Naval  Officer  Sinks 
the  Merrimac  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Harbor  to  Prevent  the  Enemy  from  Com 
ing  Out. — Afloat  on  a  Raft  Amid  the  Shells  of  Spanish  Forts  and  Cruisers.— 
Taken  Prisoner  and  Landed  in  Morro  Castle. — The  American  Vessels  Shell  the 
Castle,  although  the  Captured  Men  were  Exposed  to  the  Deadly  Fire. — The  Mag 
nificent  Naval  Battle  of  July  3d. — The  Capture  of  Admiral  Cervera  and  the 
total  Annihilation  of  the  Spanish  Fleet. 

THE  blockade  of  Havana  by  the  vessels  of  the  American  navy 
included    in    the    North    Atlantic    Squadron,    under   Admiral 
Sampson,  began  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  1898.    One  by  one 
the  vessels  had  gathered  at  Key  West  from  different  points  on  the 
Atlantic  coast,  and  on  the  226.  of   the  month,  soon  after  5  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  the  entire  squadron  of  sea-fighters,  except  the  monitors 
Terror  and  Puritan,  and  the  smaller  cruisers,  sailed  from  Key  West 
headed  for  the  Florida  Straits. 

This  movement  was  made  in  pursuance  of  a  proclamation  issued 
by  President  McKinley,  and  was  really  the  first  concerted  movement 
of  the  war.  The  call  of  the  President  for  125,000  volunteers  was 
not  made  until  the  following  day,  but  it  had  been  promptly  deter 
mined  that  not  a  moment  should  be  lost  in  blockading  the  principal 
seaport  of  Spain's  chief  possession  in  the  West  Indies,  so  that  the 
effect  of  the  declaration  of  war  might  be  immediately  felt. 

It  was  known  throughout  the  fleet,  and  on  shore  as  well,  that  the 
long-expected  advance  on  Havana  was  near  at  hand.  Key  West  was 

339 


340  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

in  a  fever  of  anticipation.  Advices  from  Washington  on  the  2ist 
indicated  the  probability  of  a  movement  during  the  night  or  on  the 
following  morning,  but  naval  men  kept  their  knowledge  to  themselves 
as  long  as  they  could.  Early  in  the  evening,  however,  signals  were 
hoisted  recalling  to  the  ships  all  men  who  were  on  shore,  and  this 
was  accepted  as  a  foregone  conclusion  that  the  movement  was  cer 
tainly  near  at  hand. 

Still  later  at  night  this  idea  was  further  confirmed  by  the  arrival 
of  a  special  boat  from  the  flagship  with  orders  for  every  officer  to  go 
on  board.  Midnight  found  Key  West  empty  of  gold  braid  and  blue 
jackets.  The  theatre  of  action  was  transferred  to  the  harbor,  where  a 
glittering  panorama  was  enacted  until  daybreak,  and  then  it  was  appar 
ent  to  everybody  that  the  vessels  would  soon  be  beyond  the  offing. 

For  many  days  past  the  flagship  New  York  had  majestically 
swung  at  anchor  about  seven  miles  out,  flanked  by  her  big  sisters,  the 
towa  and  the  Indiana.  To  the  eyes  of  Key  West  their  great  smoke 
stacks  were  barely  visible,  while  the  hulls  lay  like  shadows  in  the  dis 
tant  water.  The  inner  harbor,  however,  offered  a  striking  picture, 
crowded  as  it  was  with  monitors,  cruisers,  gunboats,  and  torpedo 
boats,  flitting  noiselessly  in  and  out  of  the  maze  of  greater  vessels 
lying  at  anchor. 

THE    MESSAGES    OF    THE    LIGHTS. 

When  twilight  fell,  on  the  evening  of  April  22d,  this  scene 
was  unchanged,  but  in  the  darkness  that  followed,  signal  lights  glim 
mered  their  messages  across  the  skies  almost  without  cessation,  and 
in  the  early  dawn,  while  it  was  still  dark  enough  for  the  same  sort  of 
signalling,  on  the  morning  of  the  23d,  a  great  line  of  fire  appeared 
on  the  sky  above  where  lay  the  flagship.  A  moment  later  and  the 
signal  staff  of  the  Cincinnati,  in  the  inner  harbor,  flashed  into  colored 
lights,  answering  the  call.  Then  the  Puritan  and  the  Helena  joined  in 
the  incandescent  conversation,  and  soon  the  skies  were  kaleidoscopic, 
as  ship  after  ship  answered  and  new  lights  ticked  messages  fraught 
with  the  gravest  import,  and  creative  of  the  Nation's  history. 

Those  on  shore  knew  not  the  words  that  had  been  transmitted; 
they  saw  the  ships  of  the  inner1  harbor  move  out  toward  the  larger 
ones  when  the  daydawn  had  advanced  a  little  further,  and  everyone 
knew  that  the  flagship  was  drawing  the  rest  of  the  fleet  toward  her. 


THE  FIRST  SHOT  OF  THE  WAR.  341 

It  was  just  5.42  A.M.  when  the  New  York,  without  unnecessary  dis 
play,  moved  slowly  toward  the  outer  waters  of  the  Gulf.  The  hwa 
and  the  Indnna  followed  on  either  side,  but  separated  from  her  by  a 
good  stretch  of  water.  As  the  line  advanced  toward  the  horizon,  the 
ships  spread  out  until  there  was  perhaps  a  distance  of  three  miles 
between  the  tips  of  the  crescent.  Those  following  the  three  leaders 
were  the  cruisers  Cincinnati,  Detroit  and  Nashville;  the  gunboats 
Wilmington,  Castine,  Machias  and  Newport ;  the  monitor  Amphitritc, 
the  torpedo  boat  Foote,  the  Mayflower  and  the  cable  repair-boat  ^Ian- 
grove.  The  MarbleJiead  was  taking  on  water  and  followed  within  a 
day  or  two. 

Although  it  was  a  fact  that  the  departure  of  the  squadron  was  in 
pursuance  of  orders  merely  to  establish  a  blockade,  there  were 
many  rumors  in  Key  West,  and  throughout  the  entire  country,  when 
the  departure  was  made  known,  that  an  attack  was  to  be  made  upon 
Havana  without  delay.  It  became  apparent  subsequently,  however, 
that  it  was  nothing  but  blockade  duty  that  was  expected  of  the 
squadron  at  this  time.  The  vessels  patrolled  the  northern  coast  for 
many  miles  east  and  west  of  Havana,  and  carried  out  the  instructions 
of  the  President  concerning  the  stoppage  and  overhauling  of  all 
vessels  bound  to  and  from  Havana.  The  care  exercised  in  carrying 
out  these  instructions  was  made  manifest  by  the  paucity  of  complica 
tions  growing  out  of  the  seizures  that  were  made,  and  the  energy  of 
the  blockaders  was  emphasized  in  the  many  interesting  incidents  that 
occurred. 

THE    FIRST    SHOT    OF    THE    WAR. 

On  the  very  first  day  out  from  Key  West  a  prize  was  captured. 
The  Nashville  saw  a  steamer  flying  the  Spanish  flag  and  overhauled 
her.  She  first  fired  a  blank  shot,  which  the  Spaniard  ignored.  This 
was  followed  by  a  six-pound  shot  fired  across  the  bows  of  the  fugi 
tive — the  first  shot  of  the  war.  The  Spaniard  then  came  to  a  stop 
and  surrendered.  She  proved  to  be  the  Buena  Ventura,  of  1,000 
tons,  having  on  board  a  cargo  of  lumber.  The  Nashville  towed  her 
prisoner  into  Key  West,  thus  having  secured  the  first  prize. 

The  first  fight  of  the  war,  however,  was  the  bombardment  and 
reduction  of  the  outer  fortifications  at  Matanzas  on  the  afternoon  of 
April  2 ;th,  by  Admiral  Sampson's  flagship  New  York,  with  the 


342  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

monitor  Puritan  and  the  cruiser  Cincinnati.  Matanzas  is  about  fifty 
miles  east  of  Havana.  Before  the  destruction  of  the  Maine,  its  only 
protection  consisted  of  two  old-fashioned  forts  near  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor,  with  old-fashioned  guns  that  were  not  at  all  formidable  ; 
but  the  Spaniards,  anticipating  trouble,  had  hundreds  of  men 
employed  on  the  works  for  several  weeks  previous  to  this  attack,  and 
it  was  rapidly  becoming  almost  as  formidable  as  Havana  itself. 

The  extent  of  the  fortifications  was  not  known  to  Admiral 
Sampson,  but  it  was  known  that  whatever  was  being  done,  was  being 
rushed.  Hence  the  determination  of  the  Admiral,  to  vary  the  mono 
tony  of  blockade  duty  by  a  little  target  practice.  The  flagship  started 
out  alone  to  do  the  work.  The  Puritan  and  Cincinnati  were  already 
in  front  of  Matanzas  doing  blockade  duty.  The  New  Yotk  signalled 
what  she  was  going  to  do  as  she  started  for  the  point  furthest  from 
Matanzas,  where  the  fortifications  of  Point  Rubalcava  were  being 
pushed  ahead,  and  the  Piiritan  and  Cincinnati  fell  in  behind. 

The  New  York  ran  provokingly  close  to  the  fortifications  and  in 
a  few  minutes  there  was  a  puff  of  smoke  from  Rubalcava,  followed 
by  the  roar  of  a  heavy  gun  and  the  whistle  of  a  shell.  At  the  same 
time  there  was  another  puff  of  smoke  to  the  east  and  the  roar  of 
another  gun.  These  two  shots  were  the  invitation  that  the  men  of 
Admiral  Sampson's  ship  had  been  looking  for,  and  in  less  time  than 
it  takes  to  tell  it,  the  big  8-inch  gun  on  the  starboard  side  forward  on 
the  New  York,  sent  a  shell  directly  into  the  fortification  at  Rubalcava. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Puritan  steamed  up  behind  the  New  York, 
and  the  Cincinnati  sailed  directly  toward  the  mouth  of  the  harbor. 

AMERICAN    GUNNERS    PROVE    THEIR    SKILL. 

Before  the  Spaniards  in  the  fortifications  had  recovered  from  the 
suprise  the  first  shell  gave  them,  the  New  York  had  planted  three 
more  almost  in  the  same  spot,  and  the  Puritan  and  Cincinnati  had 
unlimbered  their  guns  and  were  paying  the  same  sort  of  compliment 
to  the  other  fortifications.  Every  shot  they  fired  struck  the  fortifica 
tions  and  tore  them  asunder.  Great  clouds  of  dust  arose,  and  lumps 
of  masonry  went  flying. 

The  marksmanship  of  the  Americans  was  excellent.  The 
Spaniards  fired  wide  of  their  mark.  When  the  firing  began  the  New 


AMERICANS  STORMING  SAN  JUAN    HILL. 

The  most  dramatic  scene,  the  most  destructive  battle  of  the  Spanish  War. 


THE  FIRST  LIVES  LOST  FOR  THE  FLAG  345 

York  was  about  6,000  yards  from  the  shore,  but  she  gradually  reduced 
the  distance  to  less  than  3,000  yards,  and  she  increased  the  rapidity 
of  her  fire  to  three  shots  a  minute,  and  every  shot  had  a  telling 
effect. 

The  Pitritan  did  not  fire  quite  so  rapidly,  but  her  shots  were  not 
more  than  a  minute  apart,  and  she  did  not  miss  anything  she  shot  at. 
The  Cincinnati  fired  broadsides  with  equal  effectiveness,  and  after 
about  fifteen  minutes  of  this  rapid  work,  the  firing  from  the  fortifica 
tions  had  practically  ceased,  and  the  flagship  signalled  to  back  away. 

At  that  moment  Rubalcava  fired  her  last  shot.  The  Puritan 
was  a  long  distance  from  her,  but  her  gunners  saw  the  smoke  puff 
out  and  aimed  for  that  spot  with  one  of  the  big  1 2-inch  guns.  The 
aim  was  magnificent.  The  huge  i,ooo-pound  shell  of  the  Puritan 
struck  exactly  where  the  smoke  had  been,  hit  the  cannon  from  which 
it  had  come,  smashed  it,  and  drove  on  into  the  earthworks,  carrying 
destruction  before  it  exploded.  When  it  exploded  it  seemed  to  those 
who  were  watching  the  shot,  as  if  about  all  that  was  visible  of  the 
island  of  Cuba  went  up  into  the  air. 

This  was  the  last  shot  of  the  first  fight  of  the  war.  The  three 
vessels  then  sailed  out  several  miles  off  shore.  There  was  no  sign 
of  life  about  the  fortifications  of  Matanzas  after  they  left.  Not  one 
of  the  Spanish  shots  had  taken  effect  on  the  vessels,  so,  of  course, 
no  one  was  injured.  The  casualties  among  the  Spaniards  have 
never  been  known.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Blanco  sent  his 
famous  message  to  Madrid,  which  said  :  "  Killed  one  mule,"  as  the 
report  of  loss  in  this  engagement,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  mule  had  plenty  of  Spanish  company  in  the  happy  hunting 
grounds. 

THE    FIRST    LIVES    LOST    FOR    THE    FLAG. 

The  first  lives  to  be  offered  up  in  connection  with  the  war,  that 
had  been  inaugurated,  were  those  of  Ensign  Worth  Bagley  and  four 
men  of  the  torpedo  boat  Winslow,  which  bore  the  brunt  of  a  terrific 
fire  from  batteries  in  the  harbor  of  Cardenas,  on  May  the  i  ith.  The 
harbor  of  Cardenas  had  been  a  refuge  for  Spanish  gunboats,  and  the 
gunboat  Wilmington,  with  the  gunboat  Hudson  and  the  Winslow,  had 
been  ordered  to  rout  them  out.  It  was  in  the  carrying  out  of  these 
orders  that  death  came  to  these  initial  heroes. 


346  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

Only  one  Spanish  gunboat  could  be  seen  from  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor.  The  Wilmington  was  too  deep  of  draft  to  enter,  so  the 
Winslow  was  sent  in  to  capture  her  by  threatening  to  blow  her  up 
with  a  torpedo,  and  the  Hudson  stood  by  to  lend  a  hand.  When  the 
Winslow  had  advanced  to  within  a  thousand  yards  of  the  shore,  a 
masked  battery  opened  fire  on  her.  The  plucky  torpedo  boat  replied 
sturdily  with  her  small  guns  and  continued  to  advance,  but  as  she 
swung  around  to  move  out  of  range,  a  lo-inch  shell,  struck  her, 
wrecking  her  steam  steering  gear,  and  rendering  her  helpless. 

Still  the  little  vessel  replied  vigorously  with  her  three  guns  until 
one  of  them  was  disabled  by  a  fragment  of  a  shell,  but  the  others  con 
tinued  to  operate  while  some  of  the  crew  attempted  to  connect  the 
hand  steering  apparatus.  In  the  meantime  another  lo-inch  shell 
struck  the  Winslow  on  the  port  side,  wrecked  her  forward  boiler, 
filling  the  compartment  with  dense  clouds  of  steam,  and  driving  the 
men  who  were  at  work  there  to  seek  the  deck  for  air. 

The  Spaniards  quickly  recognized  the  helpless  plight  of  the 
torpedo  boat  and  began  to  cheer.  Shore  batteries  and  the  guns  of 
two  or  three  Spanish  boats,  which  had  not  been  visible  from  outside 
the  harbor,  all  concentrated  their  fire  upon  the  little  American  vessel. 
The  entire  engagement  lasted  for  nearly  an  hour,  and  while  it  lasted 
it  was  terrific.  The  Hudson  steamed  forward  to  the  aid  of  the 
Winslow,  and  attempted  to  tow  her  out  of  harm's  way.  The  Span 
iards  seemed  to  pay  no  attention  to  the  Hudson,  so  intent  were  they 
upon  destroying  the  Winslow.  Ensign  Bagley  and  several  of  his 
men  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  latter,  doing  the  best  they  could  to 
answer  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  When  the  H^tdson  approached  within 
hailing  distance,  Bagley  called  out  :  "  Pass  us  a  line  quickly ;  it's 
getting  too  hot  here  for  comfort."  The  Hudson's  crew  threw  the 
line  and  it  was  made  fast,  but  it  was  too  late  to  save  the  lives  that 
seemed  to  have  been  doomed. 

Just  as  the  hawser  drew  taut,  a  lo-inch  shell  exploded  in  the 
midst  of  the  group  of  men  on  the  deck  of  the  Winslow.  Every  man 
in  the  party  was  thrown  backward,  all  dead  or  mortally  wounded. 
The  plucky  ensign,  who  had  been  in  an  exposed  condition  during  the 
entire  conflict,  was  instantly  killed.  So  also  were  John  Denfee,  a 
fireman,  and  John  Varvarves,  an  oiler.  Two  others,  George  B.  Meek, 


THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  FLAG  IN  CUBA  347 

fireman,  and  E.  B.  Tunnell,  cook,  were  so  grievously  injured  that  they 
died  a  short  time  afterward.  For  a  moment  after  the  explosion  the 
Hudson  wavered,  and  then  she  started  with  her  heavy  tow  for  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor.  The  hawser  parted,  however,  before  she  had 
gone  far,  and  she  turned,  in  the  midst  of  a  perfect  hail  of  missiles,  to 
aid  her  disabled  consort.  This  time  the  cable  held,  and  the  Winslow 
passed  out  safely. 

The  shore  batteries  did  not  fire  another  shot  after  the  Winslow 
was  towed  away  by  the  Hudson.  On  account  of  the  smoke  and  the 
masking  of  the  battery,  it  was  impossible  to  know  what  the  Spanish 
loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  ;  but  it  has  always  been  thought  that 
the  Winslow  did  much  more  damage  by  her  answering  fire  than  the 
Spaniards  were  willing  to  concede,  particularly  because  of  the  moral 
effect  of  casualties  at  that  early  stage  of  the  war.  The  bodies  of 
Bagley  and  his  men  were  taken  to  Key  West  by  the  fludson,  and 
their  death  was  deeply  mourned  throughout  the  nation. 

Another  incident  of  this  eventful  week  was  a  ruse  resorted  to 
by  the  wily  Spaniards  to  send  a  couple  of  Sampson's  ships  to  the 
bottom.  They  baited  the  trap  as  one  would  bait  a  rat-trap.  A  small 
schooner  was  sent  out  from  Havana  harbor,  shortly  before  daylight, 
to  draw  some  of  the  Americans  into  the  ambuscade.  The  ruse 
worked  like  a  charm.  The  Vicksburg  and  the  Morill,  who  had  been 
added  to  the  blockading  fleet,  in  the  heat  of  the  chase,  and  in  their 
contempt  for  Spanish  gunnery,  closed  in  upon  their  quarry  almost 
under  the  guns  of  Morro  Castle,  but  the  poor  marksmanship  of  the 
Spanish  gunners  gave  them  warning  of  their  danger,  and  allowed 
them  to  escape  without  damage. 

THE    FIRST    AMERICAN    FLAG    IN    CUBA. 

On  May  nth,  while  the  Wilmington ,  Winslow,  and  the  Hiidson 
were  engaged  with  the  enemy  at  Cardenas,  where  Ensign  Bagley 
and  his  men  were  killed,  the  steel  gunboat  Machias  undertook  to 
silence  the  Spanish  fire  at  Diora  Bay,  the  barracks  located  a  short 
distance  from  the  main  batteries  of  Cardenas.  The  fight  was 
spirited,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  Spaniards  retreated  from 
their  wrecked  fortifications.  Scarcely  waiting  for  the  firing  to  cease, 
Ensign  Willarcl,  accompanied  by  three  men,  went  ashore  in  a  launch, 


348  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

hauled  down  the  Spanish  flag,  which  the  enemy  had  left  behind  in 
their  haste  to  get  away,  and  raised  in  its  stead  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
This  was  the  first  American  flag  erected  over  the  enemy's  works  in 
Cuba. 

On  May  I2th,  while  Admiral  Sampson  and  several  of  his  war 
ships  were  reducing  the  fortifications  at  San  Juan  de  Porto  Rico, 
the  Manning,  Dolphin,  and  Gussie  reached  Mariel,  on  the  Cuban 
coast,  and  the  latter  succeeded  in  landing  a  quantity  of  Winchester 
rifles,  ammunition,  and  supplies  for  the  Cuban  insurgents.  On  the 
1 4th,  four  boat  crews,  from  the  MaibUhead  and  Nashville,  cut  the 
cables  at  Cienfuegos,  losing  one  man  killed  and  several  officers  and 
men  wounded. 

Commander  McCalla,  of  the  Maiblekcad,  had  signalled  to  the 
Nashville  that  morning  that  he  proposed  cutting  the  cable,  and  he 
ordered  that  volunteers  be  called  for.  So  hearty  was  the  response 
to  this  call  that  the  officers  of  the  vessels  had  to  make  selections 
from  the  entire  crews.  Four  boats  were  fitted  out.  There  were 
about  forty  men  in  the  party.  In  each  boat  beside  the  crew  were 
several  marines,  and  each  of  the  launches  had  a  one-pound  gun  in  its 
bow.  All  four  boats  made  their  way  in,  directly  toward  the  shore, 
until  they  were  not  more  than  thirty  yards  from  the  beach.  The  men 
in  the  cutters  were  to  work  at  the  cables,  so  the  launches  stood 
between  them  and  the  shore,  and  the  men  in  the  latter  promptly 
began  firing  at  the  Spanish  soldiers  who  had  gathered  on  the  beach, 
while  the  Marblehead  and  the  Nashville  shelled  the  woods  on  either 
side. 

The  men  in  the  boats  cut  a  long  piece  out  of  the  first  cable,  and 
then  began  to  grapple  for  the  other.  Meantime  the  Spaniards  were 
firing  low  in  an  evident  desire  to  sink  the  cutters.  Several  men  were 
kept  at  the  oars  to  hold  the  cutters  in  position,  and  the  first  man 
wounded  was  one  of  these.  No  one  else  in  the  boat  knew  it,  how 
ever,  until  he  fainted  in  his  seat  from  the  loss  of  blood.  Others  took 
the  cue  from  this,  and  there  was  not  a  groan  or  complaint  from  the 
two  boats  as  the  bullets,  coming  thicker  and  faster,  began  to  bite 
flesh  every  now  and  then.  The  men  simply  possessed  themselves  in 
patience,  and  went  on  with  their  work.  They  did  not  even  have  the 
satisfaction  of  returning  the  Spanish  fire,  but  the  marines  in  the  bow 


AM  EFFECTIVE  BLOCKADE  KEPT  UP  349 

of  the  boats  shot  hard  enough  for  all,  and  the  men  at  the  oars  again 
and  again  grunted  approval  when  they  saw  Spaniards  on  the  beach 
fall  victims  to  the  shots  that  were  fired. 


BOTH    CABLES    ARE    CUT. 

This  sort  of  thing  kept  up  for  about  two  hours  before  both 
cables  had  been  successfully  severed,  the  Spaniards  all  the  while  keep 
ing  up  a  fire  on  the  daring  cable-cutters,  and  the  marines  defending 
the  workmen.  When  it  became  too  hot  for  comfort,  a  few  cans  of 
shrapnel  were  exploded  over  the  heads  of  the  Spaniards.  This  was 
too  much  for  the  Dons,  and  they  ran  to  cover  behind  a  lighthouse, 
and  to  this  place  they  dragged  a  number  of  their  machine  guns  and 
again  opened  fire.  By  this  time,  however,  the  work  that  the  Ameri 
cans  had  started  out  to  do  was  fairly  well  accomplished.  The  cutters 
and  launches  withdrew  from  the  shore,  and  were  soon  at  the  side  of 
the  Marblehead  and  the  Nashville.  The  warships  trained  guns  upon 
the  lighthouse,  where  the  Spaniards  had  taken  refuge,  and  speedily 
knocked  it  into  fragments.  The  only  man  killed  instantly  in  this 
engagement  was  Patrick  Regan,  a  marine.  A  sailor,  who  had  been 
shot  at  the  oars,  died  of  his  wounds  on  the  same  day.  Five  other 
sailors  were  wounded,  Commander  Maynard,  of  the  Nashville,  was 
grazed  in  the  shoulder,  and  Lieutenant  Winslow  was  wounded  in  the 
hand. 

AN    EFFECTIVE    BLOCKADE    KEPT    UP. 

The  blockade  was  kept  up  at  all  ports  on  the  northern  coast  of 
Cuba,  and,  though  some  of  the  Spanish  skippers  succeeded  in  eluding 
the  watchfulness  of  the  Americans,  many  prizes  were  captured,  and 
the  blockade  was  satisfactorily  successful.  Its  effectiveness  was  soon 
made  very  evident  in  Havana,  where  provisions  grew  to  be  very 
scarce.  It  was  impossible  to  prevail  upon  merchants  to  embark  in 
such  a  dangerous  enterprise,  as  running  the  blockade,  and  shipowners 
were  equally  loath  to  risk  the  almost  certain  capture  and  condemna 
tion  of  their  vessels.  The  exigencies  of  the  war,  however,  demanded 
from  time  to  time,  the  withdrawal  of  a  part  of  the  blockading  force, 
and  thus  it  was  made  possible  to  introduce  into  Havana  occassional 
small  consignments  of  supplies. 


350  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

Among  the  earlier  captures  made  by  the  blockading  squadron,  was 
that  of  the  steamer  Lafayette,  of  the  French  transatlantic  line,  which  was 
taken  by  the  gunboat  Annapolis  just  off  the  harbor  of  Havana,  but 
the  Lafayettt  was  subsequently  released  on  a  technicality.  The  gun 
boat  Vicksburg  captured  the  schooner  Oriente,  and  the  dispatch  boat 
Uncas  captured  the  Antonio  Suaves.  The  cruiser  Montgomery  brought 
into  port  the  Spanish  brigantine  Franzquito,  bound  for  Havana,  also 
the  brigantine  Lorenzo  ;  the  Newport  captured  the  Padre  de  Dio^,  the 
Morrill  overhauled  the  sloop  Espana,  and  the  auxiliary  cruiser  Yale 
secured  a  rich  prize  in  the  steamship  Rita.  The  flagship  New  York 
also  made  several  notable  captures  including  the  Carlos  F,  Rosas. 
In  a  secret  chamber  of  the  Argonauta,  were  found  rifles  and  ammuni 
tion  to  the  value  of  $6,000.  A  United  States  prize  court  was  estab 
lished  at  Key  West,  and  the  Spanish  vessels  that  remained  unclaimed 
were  condemned  and  ordered  sold. 

A  feature  of  the  naval  operations  off  the  coast  of  Cuba,  at  this 
time  was  the  arrival  at  Key  West,  May  26th,  of  the  battleship  Oregon, 
having  made  the  voyage  from  San  Francisco  since  March  iQth,  a 
distance  of  more  than  13,000  miles,  which  it  covered  in  65  days  of 
actual  travel. 

HUNTING    FOR    THE    SPANISH    FLEET. 

The  monotony  of  the  blockade  was  broken  nearly  every  day  by 
news  of  the  supposed  movements  of  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Cervera, 
which  was  known  to  have  left  Spain  for  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and 
which  was  supposed  to  be  on  its  way  to  the  West  Indies.  Marvelous 
stones  had  been  told  of  the  prowess  of  these  Spanish  men-of-war,  and 
the  appetite  of  the  entire  American  Navy  had  been  whetted  to  a 
keen  point.  The  desire  to  try  conclusions  with  the  enemy  on  the  sea 
was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  every  sailor,  and  there  was  sincere 
disappointment  when  each  succeeding  rumor  of  the  discovery  of  the 
fleet  proved  to  be  without  foundation,  and  there  was  equal  satisfac 
tion  when  the  enemy  was  at  last  definitely  located. 

Admiral  Sampson  had  reduced  the  fortifications  at  San  Juan  de 
Porto  Rico  and  had  seen  nothing  of  the  enemy's  fleet  in  that  direc 
tion.  He  then  returned  to  Havana.  Commodore  Schley  had  been 
placed  in  command  of  the  Flying  Squadron.  Orders  had  been  sent 


STARTED  TO  CRUISE  EASTWARD  351 

him  to  establish  a  blockade  at  Cienfuegos  with  the  least  possible 
delay.  His  instructions  were,  that  if  the  Spanish  vessels  showed 
themselves  in  that  vicinity,  and,  finding  him  on  the  lookout,  should 
try  to  come  around  the  island,  whether  east  or  west,  he  was  to  send 
word  by  the  swiftest  vessel  he  had,  so  that  Sampson  might  be  ready 
for  them  at  Havana. 

The  first  definite  information  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  Cervera's 
fleet  came  through  the  United  States  Minister  to  Venezuela,  who 
cabled  when  he  learned  from  a  confidential  source  that  the  Spaniards 
were  seen  on  May  1 7th,  headed  in  the  direction  of  Cuba.  They  did 
not  appear  off  Cienfuegos,  as  expected,  and  Sampson  sent  instruc 
tions  to  Schley  on  May  2ist,  that  word  had  come  to  Washington  that 
the  Spanish  squadron,  consisting  of  four  ships  and  three  torpedo 
destroyers,  were  probably  at  Santiago  de  Cuba. 

"  If  you  are  satisfied  that  they  are  not  near  Cienfuegos,"  were 
Schley's  instructions,  "  proceed  with  all  dispatch,  but  cautiously,  to 
Santiago  de  Cuba,  and,  if  the  enemy  is  there,  blockade  him  in  port." 

STARTED    TO    CRUISE    EASTWARD. 

Meanwhile,  Sampson  assembled  a  powerful  squadron  off  Havana 
and  started  to  cruise  eastward,  with  a  view  to  prevent  the  possible 
approach  of  Cervera's  fleet  from'  that  direction,  but  not  so  far  as  to 
make  it  impossible  to  fall  back  to  Havana  in  case  of  Cervera's  fleet 
coming  around  the  western  end  of  the  island.  It  was  not  believed 
by  the  Navy  Department  that  Cervera,  if  he  was  in  Santiago,  would 
remain  there,  unless  the  port  was  closely  blockaded, 

Schley  did  not  reach  Santiago  on  May  24th,  as  expected,  because, 
as  he  telegraphed  to  Sampson,  he  "  was  not  satisfied  that  the  Span 
ish  squadron  was  not  at  Cienfuegos."  "The  large  amount  of  smoke 
seen  in  the  harbor,"  were  the  words  of  Schley's  message,  "  would  in 
dicate  the  presence  of  a  number  of  vessels,  and  under  such  circum 
stances  it  would  seem  to  be  extremely  unwise  to  chase  up  a  pro 
bability  at  Santiago,  reported  via  Havana,  no  doubt  as  a  ruse.  I  shall 
therefore  remain  off  this  port,  with  this  squadron,  availing  myself  of 
every  opportunity  for  coaling  and  keeping  it  ready  for  any  emergency." 

Admiral  Schley  also  embodied  in  his  message  to  Sampson,  the 
following  paragraph  : 


352  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

11  I  am  further  satisfied  that  the  destination  of  the  Spanish 
squadron  is  either  Cienfuegos  or  Havana.  This  point,  being  in  com 
munication  with  Havana,  would  be  better  for  their  purposes,  if  it  was 
left  exposed,  and  I  think  we  ought  to  be  very  careful  how  we  receive 
information  from  Havana,  which  is,  no  doubt,  sent  out  for  the  purpose 
of  misleading  us." 

On  May  23d,  Schley  further  reported  that  a  steamer  leaving 
Santiago  on  the  iSth,  had  brought  word  of  seeing  the  lights  of  seven 
vessels  several  miles  to  the  southward  of  Santiago,  and,  notwith 
standing  this  report,  Schley  added  that,  "on  Saturday,  May  2ist, 
when  about  40  miles  southwest  of  Cienfuegos,  I  heard,  from  the 
bridge,  firing  of  guns  towards  Cienfuegos,  which  I  interpreted  as  a 
welcome  to  the  Spanish  fleet,  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  fleet  is 
here.  Latest  Bulletin  from  Jamaica,  received  this  morning,  asserts 
that  the  fleet  has  left  Santiago.  I  think  I  have  them  here  in  Cien- 

o 

fuegos  almost  a  certainty."     In   reply  to   this  message  from  Schley, 
Sampson  sent  him  the  following  : 

41  ST.   NICHOLAS  CHANNEL,  May  27,  1898. 

Sir: — Every  report,  particularly  confidential  reports,  state  Span 
ish  squadron  has  been  in  Santiago  de  Cuba  from  the  iQth  to  the  25th 
inst,  inclusive,  the  25th  being  the  date  of  the  last  report  received. 
You  will  please  proceed  with  all  possible  dispatch  to  Santiago  to 
blockade  that  port.  If,  on  arrival  there,  you  receive  positive  infor 
mation  of  the  Spanish  ships  having  left,  you  will  follow  them  in 
pursuit.  Very  respectfully,  W.  T.  SAMPSON." 

SCHLEY  PROCEEDS  TO  SANTIAGO. 

Schley' s  response  to  this  message  was  that  he  should  proceed  to 
Santiago  at  once,  though  he  was  embarrassed  by  the  short  coal  sup 
ply  of  the  Texas,  and  her  inability  to  coal  in  the  open  sea ;  further 
more,  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  remain  off  Santiago,  on  account 
of  the  general  short  coal  supply  of  the  squadron.  Upon  learning 
this,  Admiral  Sampson  at  once  decided  to  go  to  Key  West,  coal,  and 
if  authorized  by  the  Department,  proceed  to  Santiago.  Colliers 
were  sent  with  all  haste  to  Schley,  and  he  was  instructed  to  blockade 
the  Spanish  squadron  at  all  hazards.  Admiral  Sampson  cabled  to  the 
Navy  Department  as  follows  : 


SAMPSON  TAKES  COMMAND  AT  SANTIAGO  353 

"  Notwithstanding  the  apparent  uncertainty  of  Schley's  move 
ments,  I  believe  Spanish  squadron  is  still  in  the  port  of  Santiago ." 
The  same  dispatch  said  that  Sampson's  orders  to  Schley  had  included 
the  sinking  of  a  collier  across  the  entrance  to  Santiago,  and  this  was 
the  origin  of  the  incident  in  which  naval  constructor  Hobson  after 
ward  played  so  prominent  a  part.  Meanwhile,  however,  there  was 
great  unrest  at  Washington  as  to  what  Schley  was  doing  and  what 
he  was  going  to  be  able  to  do  at  Santiago. 

The  dispatches  that  passed  between  Sampson  and  the  Depart 
ment  regarding  Schley's  movements  included  one  sent  by  Sampson 
on  the  afternoon  of  May  29th,  as  follows  :  "  The  importance  of  abso 
lutely  preventing  the  escape  of  the  Spanish  squadron  is  so  paramount, 
that  promptness  and  most  efficient  use  of  every  means  is  demanded." 
To  this  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  replied  with  the  statement : 
"  Schley  telegraphs  from  Santiago  that  he  goes  to  Key  West  with 
his  squadron  for  coal,  though  he  has  4,000  tons  of  coal  with  him  in  a 
broken-down  collier."  Following  this  statement  from  the  Secretary 
was  the  following  query  :  "  How  soon  after  arrival  of  Schley  at  Key 
West  could  you  reach  Santiago  with  the  New  York,  Oregon  and  the 
Indiana,  and  lighters,  and  how  long  could  you  blockade  there,  send 
ing  your  vessels  singly  to  coal  from  our  lighters  at  Gonaives,  Hayti  ? 
Consider  if  you  could  seize  Guantanamo  and  occupy  as  a  coaling 
station.  Schley  has  not  ascertained  whether  Spanish  squadron  is  at 
Santiago." 

The  Admiral's  response  to  the  above  was  :  "  Answering  telegram 
regarding  time  of  reaching  Santiago  :  three  days.  Can  blockade  in 
definitely.  Think  can  occupy  Guantanamo.  Would  like  to  start  at 
once  with  New  York  and  Oregon,  arriving  in  two  days.  Do  not  quite 
understand  the  necessity  of  awaiting  the  arrival  of  Schley,  but  would 
propose  meeting  and  turning  back  the  principal  part  of  the  force 
under  his  command  if  he  has  left.  Try  to  hold  him  by  telegraph. 
Failure  of  Schley  to  continue  blockade  must  be  remedied  at  once  if 
possible.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  presence  of  Spanish  squadron  at 
Santiago." 

SAMPSON    TAKES    COMMAND    AT    SANTIAGO. 

Meanwhile  Schley  sent  word  that  he  had  been  able  to  repair  his 
broken-down  collier;  that  he  would  endeavor  to  coal  the  Texas  and  the 


354  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

Marblehead  in  the  open  sea  and  to  retain  his  position  off  Santiago  as 
long  as  the  coal  lasted.  To  this  information  Sampson  sent  Schley  a 
message  of  congratulation,  warning  him,  however,  to  maintain  a 
close  blockade,  especially  at  night,  but  Secretary  Long  ordered 
Sampson  to  proceed  at  once  to  Santiago  and  take  command. 

In  pursuance  of  these  direct  orders,  therefore,  the  New  York, 
with  Admiral  Sampson  on  board,  left  Key  West  for  Santiago,  just 
before  midnight  of  May  29th.  The  next  morning  the  Oregon,  May 
flower,  and  the  Porter  joined  the  flagship,  and  they  all  raced  eastward 
as  fast  as  they  could  go.  Up  to  that  time  no  word  had  been  received 
from  Schley  as  to  whether  he  knew  where  the  Spanish  squadron 
really  was,  but  on  the  way  along  the  northern  coast  of  Cuba  the  St, 
Paul  and  the  Yale  were  encountered  bound  for  Key  West  for  coal. 
Captain  Sigsbee,  of  the  St.  Paul,  had  with  him  a  copy  of  a  dispatch 
he  had  sent  from  Mole  St.  Nicholas,  to  Secretary  Long,  from  Schley, 
announcing  the  "  bottling  up"  of  the  Spanish  squadron,  in  the  fol 
lowing  terms:  "Enemy  in  port.  Recognized  Chtistob.il  Colon, 
Infanta  Maria  Teresa,  and  two  torpedo  boats  moored  inside  Morro, 
behind  point.  Doubtless  others  are  here." 

SUSPENSE    APPEARED    AT    AN    END. 

The  suspense  of  the  past  few  days  appeared  to  be  at  an  end 
after  learning  of  this  dispatch,  but  it  was  not  until  the  early  morning 
of  June  ist,  when  Admiral  Sampson  reached  a  point  off  the  port  of 
Santiago  and  found  Schley  and  his  ships  still  there,  that  all  anxiety 
was  removed  and  the  fate  of  the  Spanish  squadron  was  sealed  beyond 
peradventure.  Sampson  assumed  command,  by  virtue  of  his  orders 
from  Washington,  and  at  once  began  the  arrangements  for  sinking 
the  Merrimac  and  in  other  ways  making  it  impossible  for  Cervera  to 
escape. 

It  will  perhaps  never  be  quite  understood  why  the  Spanish  squad 
ron  did  not  get  out  of  Santiago  harbor  before  the  Americans  had 
established  their  blockade.  Some  of  the  Spanish  captains,  who  were 
afterward  captured,  said  it  was  owing  to  lack  of  coal,  but  others  inti 
mated  that  Cervera  had  preferred  to  be  blockaded  in  the  tortuous 
harbor  of  Santiago  rather  than  in  Cienfuegos,  and  that  it  had  not 
occurred  to  them  that  Santiago  would  become  so  untenable  by  reason 


THE  SINKING  OF  THE  MERRIMAC  355 

of  land  and  sea  bombardment.  The  fact  that  they  had  not  escaped, 
however,  was  enough  for  the  Americans  to  know  at  that  time,  and 
the  next  step  was  to  "put  a  cork  in  the  neck  of  the  bottle." 

THE     SINKING    OF    THE    MERRIMAC. 

The  original  plan  for  sinking  a  vessel  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor 
of  Santiago,  had  embodied  the  selection  of  the  collier  Stirling  for 
that  purpose,  and  it  was  that  name  that  had  been  given  to  Commo 
dore  Schley,  when  Admiral  Sampson  sent  his  instructions  regarding 
the  proposition.  It  was  the  Merrimac,  however,  that  the  Admiral 
had  in  mind,  and  the  name  Stirling  had  been  used  through  a  mistake 
of  the  stenographer.  Schley  had  found  no  opportunity  to  carry  out 
this  order,  and  Sampson  at  once  went  to  work  to  perfect  his  plan. 
He  had  no  idea  that  a  sunken  vessel  would  prove  a  lasting  impedi 
ment  to  Cervera's  escape,  because  he  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
Spanish  would  be  able  to  blow  her  up  sufficiently  to  gain  a  path  of 
egress.  His  main  object  was  to  keep  Cervera  in  Santiago  until  the 
troops  were  landed. 

On  the  passage  from  Key  West  to  Santiago,  Hobson,  as  assist 
ant  naval  constructor,  had  been  called  into  the  Admiral's  cabin  for 
consultation  as  to  the  proposed  blowing  up  of  the  ship.  He  took  up 
the  subject  with  so  much  intelligence  and  enthusiasm  that  Sampson 
put  him  in  charge  of  the  work  of  preparing  the  Merrimac.  When  the 
call  was  made  for  volunteers,  on  the  night  of  June  1st,  Hobson  begged 
the  Admiral  to  let  him  retain  charge  of  the  ship  on  her  adventurous 
trip.  Other  men  begged  for  the  same  privilege,  and  every  man  in  the 
fleet  volunteered  for  service  on  board  of  the  Merrimac,  but  the 
Admiral  did  not  wish  to  risk  any  more  lives  than  would  be  absolutely 
necessary,  and  Hobson  was  so  perfectly  acquainted  with  all  the 
details,  that  Sampson  finally  put  him  in  charge  and  refused  to  allow 
any  other  officer  to  go  on  the  expedition.  The  Admiral  seems  to  have 
been  almost  the  only  man  on  board  the  New  York  who  expected  to 
see  Hobson  and  his  crew  come  out  of  trie  adventure  alive.  He  said, 
before  the  start  was  made,  "It  is  a  dangerous  undertaking,  and  a 
brave  act  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  going,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
shoot  a  few  men  on  a  big  ship  in  a  dark  night,  and,  you  know,  the 
Spaniards  are  very  poor  shots." 


356  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

The  Merrimac  was  a  steel  cargo  steamer  of  about  5,500  tons 
burden.  She  was  built  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  for  a  Norwegian 
company,  but  was  burned  at  Newport  News,  in  1896.  The  hull  was 
sold  to  a  New  York  firm.  It  was  overhauled  and  refitted,  and  the 
reconstructed  vessel  was  sold  to  the  Government  for  a  collier  in  April, 
1898.  In  fitting  her  up  for  the  purpose  of  sinking  her,  a  line  was  run 
along  the  portside  of  the  ship,  parallel  to  the  water  line.  Along  this 
line  were  suspended,  in  8-inch  copper  cases,  ten  charges  of  ordinary 
brown  prismatic  powder,  each  charge  weighing  about  80  pounds  ; 
over  this  an  ordinary  igniting  charge  of  brown  powder  was  placed, 
and  the  whole  was  covered  with  pitch  for  protection  against  water, 
with  a  primer  and  a  wire  for  exploding  the  charges.  The  first  plan 
contemplated  the  simultaneous  explosion  of  all  the  charges.  It  was 
found,  however,  that  the  battery  on  hand  was  not  sufficient  to  explode 
with  certainty  more  than  six  of  the  charges,  so  only  six  were  con 
nected.  The  ship's  anchors  were  lashed  over  the  rail,  ready  for 
instant  dropping.  The  cargo  ports,  two  on  each  side,  were  opened  to 
aid  in  the  submerging  of  the  vessel. 

PREPARATIONS. 

Below,  in  the  engine  room,  the  nuts  holding  the  bonnets  of  the 
main  injection  valve,  and  the  sea-suction  valve  of  the  big  fire  pump, 
were  slackened  off  ready  for  instant  removal,  and  wooden  props  were 
wedged  in  on  top  of  the  bonnets,  so  that  after  the  nuts  had  been 
taken  off,  one  blow  with  a  sledge  would  knock  out  the  prop,  allow 
the  bonnet  to  fly  off  and  admit  the  sea.  All  these  preparations  were 
made  with  the  greatest  haste,  as  it  was  decided  to  send  the  ship  in 
before  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  2d.  One  of  the  ships  life- 
rafts  was  to  be  towed  from  a  line  amidships  on  the  starboard  side. 

Hobson,  of  course,  was  to  be  in  charge  ;  Deignan  was  stationed 
at  the  wheel ;  Boatswain  Murphy  was  to  cut  the  lashings  of  the  star 
board  bower  anchor  ;  and  Montague  was  to  similarly  cut  the  lashings 
of  the  quarter  anchor  ;  Charette  was  to  explode  the  charges  on  signal. 
At  the  first  signal,  Phillips  was  to  knock  out  the  props,  Kelly  was  to 
cut  the  small  sea  pipes  and  then  run  on  deck  to  haul  in  the  liferaft. 
At  the  second  signal,  Phillips  was  to  stop  the  engine,  then  run  on 
deck  and  jump  over  the  starboard  side.  The  strong  floodtide  was 


THE  FAREWELL  OF  HOB  SON  AND  HIS  MEN  357 

relied  on  to  head  the  ship  properly  and  to  assist  in  sinking  her.  It 
was  the  intention  of  Hobson  to  remain  on  the  bridge  until  he  felt  the 
ship  settle.  He  expected  that  a  mine  would  be  exploded  under  the 
ship  by  the  enemy,  thus  materially  aiding  his  own  plan. 

THE    FAREWELL    OF    HOBSON    AND    HIS    MEN. 

Finally  all  preparations  were  completed.  By  this  time  it  was 
broad  daylight,  but  the  Merrimac  s  crew  had  said  "  good-bye  "  to  the 
rest  of  the  fleet  and  she  was  already  headed  in  toward  her  fate. 
Suddenly  came  an  order  to  return,  from  the  flagship.  Some  slight 
changes  in  the  original  plan  were  made.  Hobson  decided  also  that 
it  would  be  safer  to  explpde  each  powder  charge  separately.  It  was 
also  decided  to  follow  the  Merrimac  in  with  a  steam  launch.  These 
details  having  been  arranged,  Hobson  at  7  P.M.,  June  2d,  went  below 
on  the  flagship,  to  get  a  little  rest,  and  the  men  who  were  going  with 
him  also  took  what  rest  they  could  get.  At  1.30  A.M.,  Hobson  and 
his  men  were  all  on  board  the  Merrimac,  Cadet  Powell  was  prepared  to 
follow  with  a  steam  launch,  and  the  expedition  finally  got  under  way. 

The  moon  was  partly  obscured  by  clouds  and  those  on  the  other 
vessels  of  the  fleet  could  not  see  the  movements  of  the  Merrimac 
after  she  neared  the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  At  3.15  A.M.,  June  3d, 
a  shot  was  fired,  which  evidently  came  from  one  of  the  guns  of  the 
Socapo  battery  on  the  hill  to  the  westward  of  the  harbor  mouth. 
The  shot  was  seen  to  splash  seaward  from  the  Merrimac  having 
passed  over  her.  Firing  became  very  general  soon  after  that,  being 
especially  fierce  and  rapid  from  inside  the  harbor  on  the  west.  For 
fifteen  minutes  a  perfect  fusillade  was  kept  up,  and  the  whole  fleet 
knew  that  the  Merrimac  was  having  a  hot  time  of  it.  Then  the  fire 
slackened,  and  by  3.30  A.M.,  had  almost  ceased.  A  close  watch  was 
kept  on  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  in  order  to  pick  up  the  steam  launch, 
which  was  confidently  expected  to  return  with  definite  news,  if  not 
with  Hobson  and  the  men  who  had  accompanied  him. 

Cadet  Powell  brought  the  launch  alongside  the  Texas  and 
reported  that  u  no  one  had  come  out  of  the  entrance  of  the  harbor.'' 
His  words  sounded  like  the  death-knell  of  all  who  had  gone  in  on  the 
Merrimac.  It  seemed  impossible  that  any  of  them  could  have  lived 
through  the  awful  fire  that  had  been  directed  at  the  vessel.  The 


353  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

launch  had  followed  behind  the  ship  at  a  distance  of  about  400 
yards.  The  collier  was  in  plain  view  of  Cadet  Powell  until  she 
rounded  the  bend  of  the  channel,  and  until  the  helm  had  been 
put  to  port  to  swing  her  into  position  across  the  channel.  Powell 
heard  or  saw  and  counted  seven  explosions,  which  were  undoubtedly 
those  of  the  powder  charges  under  the  collier.  He  remained  in  the 
entrance  as  long  as  he  deemed  it  safe  to  do  so.  No  wreckage  or 
bodies  floated  out,  but  everything  had  evidently  been  swept  inside  by 
the  strong  floodtide,  and  those  who  made  up  the  launch  party  were 
convinced  that  Hobson  and  his  men  were  dead. 

THE    MERRIMAC'S    MEN    PRISONERS. 

Much  to  the  surprise  of  every  one,  therefore,  a  tug,  flying  a  flag 
of  truce,  came  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  in  the  afternoon  and 
made  for  the  American  fleet.  The  Vixen,  flying  a  tablecloth  at  the 
fore,  went  to  meet  the  tug.  A  Spanish  officer  went  aboard  the  Vixen 
from  the  tug,  and  was  taken  aboard  the  flagship.  He  announced  to 
Admiral  Sampson  that  the  collier's  crew  were  prisoners  of  war.  Two 
had  been  slightly  wounded,  but  the  others  were  all  well.  The  Span 
ish  officer  also  said  that  the  prisoners  were  confined  in  Morro  Castle. 
He  said  further  that  Admiral  Cervera  considered  the  attempt  to  run 
in  and  sink  the  Merrimac  across  the  channel  an  act  of  such  bravery 
and  desperate  daring  that  he  thought  it  only  proper  that  the  Ameri 
can  Admiral  should  be  notified  of  the  safety  of  those  who  went  on 
such  a  perilous  expedition. 

So  far  as  blocking  the  channel  was  concerned  the  attempt  was 
not  distinctly  successful.  The  firing  from  the  shore  batteries  did  so 
much  damage  to  he  collier  that  the  original  plan  could  not  be  closely 
^followed.  Hobson  maintained  his  place  on  the  bridge,  and  the  crew 
was  distributed  as  planned,  but  the  crushing  of  shells  through  the 
side  of  the  vessel  caused  her  to  begin  to  sink  before  the  details  that 
had  been  agreed  upon  could  be  carried  out.  When  the  vessel  began 
to  settle,  Hobson  exploded  some  of  his  powder  charges  and  ordered 
the  men  in  the  engine  room  to  come  on  deck. 

A  perfect  shower  of  shot  came  from  the  forts  on  shore,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  men  would  surely  all  be  killed.  Hobson  ordered  the 
men  to  lie  on  the  deck.  The  water  came  up  until  only  their  heads 


LOCKED  UP  IN  MORRO  CASTLE  359 

were  above  water,  but  they  remained  there  until  it  was  apparent  that 
the  vessel  was  going  down  as  she  lay,  and  that  they  had  better  try  to 
save  their  lives.  They  all  managed  to  get  on  board  the  raft  and  cast 
loose  from  the  sinking  ship.  They  saw  her  settle  until  only  the 
upper  half  of  her  masts  were  above  the  water,  and  while  they  were 
watching  these,  and  wondering  whether  they  had  accomplished  their 
object  or  not,  a  Spanish  craft,  on  board  of  which  was  Admiral  Cervera 
himself,  came  alongside  and  took  them  off.  The  Spanish  Admiral 
took  Hobson  by  the  hand  and  complimented  him  and  his  men  upon 
their  bravery,  promising  them  to  send  the  message  to  Admiral  Samp 
son,  which  gave  the  fleet  its  knowledge  of  the  safety  of  the  crew. 

LOCKED    UP    IN    MORRO    CASTLE. 

The  prisoners  were  taken  on  shore  at  once  and  promptly  con 
ducted  up  the  hill  to  Morro  Castle.  There  they  were  confined  for 
several  days  They  were  kept  in  separate  cells  and  were  not 
allowed  to  communicate  with  each  other.  It  was  reported  to  the 
fleet  that  the  quarters  of  the  prisoners  were  in  an  exposed  portion  of 
the  Castle,  so  that  they  would  be  directly  in  the  line  of  fire  if  any 
bombardment  was  attempted  Hobson  afterwards  said,  however, 
that  this  was  not  the  fact,  though  from  his  place  of  confinement  on 
the  further  side  of  the  Castle  he  could  hear  the  sound  of  the  striking 
of  the  missiles  that  were  fired  in  the  bombardment  that  did  follow, 
and  could  see  the  shells  that  soared  over  the  castle  and  fell  into  the 
fields  beyond.  The  British  Consul,  however,  protested  against  the 
prisoners  being  kept  at  Morro,  and  they  were  thereupon  removed 
to  the  hospital  nearer  the  City  of  Santiago,  where  they  were  kept 
imprisoned  until  an  exchange  was  agreed  upon. 

The  Spaniards  succeeded  in  blowing  the  Merrimac  partially  to 
pieces,  so  that  she  really  formed  no  obstruction  in  the  way  of  ingress 
or  egress  to  the  harbor.  When  this  had  been  done,  the  officers  of  the 
American  fleet  were  convinced  that  Cervera  intended  to  make  a  dash 
for  the  freedom  of  the  seas.  Everybody,  therefore,  was  upon  a  con 
stant  lookout.  There  was  no  time  of  the  day  or  night  that  the  eyes 
of  the  Americans  were  not  fixed  upon  "  the  neck  of  that  bottle  ;"  but 
a  whole  month  passed  by  after  the  daring  exploit  of  Hobson  and  his 
men  before  the  happening  of  the  expected.  Meanwhile  a  bombard- 


360  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

ment  of  the  city  of  Santiago  had  been  undertaken  by  throwing  shells 
over  the  hills  by  which  the  harbor  was  enclosed,  and  the  Morro  and 
other  batteries  were  persistently  hammered  at  whenever  the  fleet 
seemed  in  need  of  target  practice. 

THE    DAWN    OF    JULY    31.). 

Sunday,  July  3d,  the  fifth  Sunday  spent  by  the  American  vessels 
before  Santiago,  and  the  ninth  recurrence  of  that  sacred  day  since  the 
victory  of  Dewey  at  Manila,  broke  with  no  particularly  different 
situation  from  that  which  had  marked  preceeding  Sundays.  The 
monotony,  the  heat  of  the  tropical  sun.  the  wonder  why  something 
was  not  being  done  beside  waiting,  all  these  were  there,  and  no  one 
outside  the  harbor  had  reason  to  believe  that  anything  unusual  was 
about  to  occur. 

The  American  fleet  swung  lazily  at  a  distance  of  from  four  to 
five  miles  from  the  harbor  entrance.  The  line  which  was  at  all  times 
supposed  to  be  in  a  half  circle,  inclosing  the  harbor  entrance  as 
a  central  point,  was  more  than  ordinarily  broken  up  this  awfully  hot 
morning.  The  big  battleships  had  drifted  to  the  east  considerably, 
and  the  Massachusetts,  the  New  York,  the  New  Orleans  and  the 
Newark,  were  not  in  sight.  The  New  York  had  taken  Admiral 
Sampson  down  to  Altares,  eight  miles  east  from  the  blockade,  to 
make  a  visit  to  the  camp  of  the  American  army,  while  the  other 
missing  vessels  were. at  Guantanamo  forty  miles  to  the  east. 

The  vessels  on  the  blockade  were  the  Iowa,  Indiana,  and  Oregon, 
battleships  ;  the  flagship  of  Commodore  Schley,  the  Brooklyn,  and 
the  small  yachts  Gloucester  and  Vixen.  The  Iowa  was  swinging  a 
mile  further  out  than  the  rest  of  the  squadron,  trying  to  arrange  mat 
ters  in  her  forward  1 2-inch  turret,  which  was  a  little  out  of  repair, 
while  the  Indiana  was  doing  the  same  with  her  forward  1 3-inch  turret. 
The  absolutely  available  ships  in  the  squadron,  therefore,  were  only 
the  Oregon,  Texas,  and  Brooklyn,  although  the  Iowa  and  the  Indiana 
were  not  long  in  coming  forward  and  getting  a  share  in  the  fight. 

It  is  a  custom  on  naval  vessels  that  there  shall  be  a  general  mus 
ter,  at  least  once  every  three  months,  and  that  the  articles  of  war 
shall  then  be  read.  First  call  for  this  purpose  had  been  sounded  on 
board  the  Brooklyn  at  9.15  A.M.,  and  the  men  were  assembling  on  the 


THE  DASH  FOR  LIBERTY  361 

decks.  The  lookout  in  the  masthead  had  some  time  before  reported 
smoke  in  the  harbor,  but,  as  the  same  thing  had  been  noticed  several 
times,  no  special  attention  was  paid  to  it.  Presently  the  lookout 
fairly  yelled,  "  There  is  a  big  ship  coining  out  of  the  harbor,  sir." 
Navigator  Hodgson,  who  was  on  the  forward  bridge  at  the  time, 
looked  toward  the  harbor's  mouth,  and  then,  grasping  the  megaphone  : 
"  After  bridge  there,  tell  the  Commodore,  the  enemy's  fleet  is  coming 
out." 

Commodore  Schley  was  sitting  under  the  awning  on  the  quarter 
deck.  Going  to  the  bridge,  he  said :  "  Raise  the  signal  to  the  fleet", 
and,  turning  to  Captain  Cook,  who  stood  by  his  side,  he  added, 
"Clear  ship  for  action."  Then  the  Commodore,  who  was  to  have 
charge  of  this  important  engagement  in  the  temporary  absence  of 
the  Commander  of  the  fleet,  went  forward,  and  took  his  place  on  a 
little  platform  of  wood  running  on  the  outside  of  the  conning  tower, 
which  had  been  built  expressly  for  his  point  of  lookout  in  the  event 
of  the  Brooklyn's  getting  into  a  battle.  He  was  dressed  in  blue 
trousers,  a  black  alpaca  jacket,  and  the  regulation  cap  without  the 
commodore's  broad  band  of  gold  braid. 

THE    DASH    FOR    LIBERTY. 

The  Brooklyn  and  the  Vixen  were  the  only  vessels  to  the  west  of 
the  entrance,  the  others  having  all  drifted  well  to  the  east.  Schley, 
therefore,  had  the  first  good  view  of  the  oncoming  vessel,  which 
proved  to  be  the  Infanta  Maria  Teresa.  The  Oregon  was  the  first  to 
fire.  She  opened  with  her  1 3-inch  shells,  and  the  Texas  followed 
suit.  Even  the  Indiana  and  the  Iowa,  coming  up  as  rapidly  as  possi 
ble  from  their  greater  distance,  began  to  fire,  though  the  range  was 
so  long  that  their  first  shots  were  not  particularly  effective. 

Still  the  Brooklyn  waited,  but  clown  below  the  coal  was  being 
forced  into  the  furnace,  every  boiler  was  being  worked,  and  every  gun 
made  ready  to  fire.  Schley  wanted  to  know  which  way  the  vessels 
of  the  enemy  were  all  going;  whether  they  would  follow  in  a  line  to 
the  westward,  or  whether  they  would  scatter.  Lieutenant  Sears,  who 
had  been  sharing  the  Commodore's  watchfulness,  remarked,  "  They 
all  seem  to  be  coming  west,  sir."  Schley  nodded,  and  gave  the  order, 
"Full  speed,  ahead  ;  open  fire,  and  don't  waste  a  shot."  In  an  instant 


362  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

the  Brooklyn  s  terrific  8-  and  5 -inch  batteries  on  her  port  side  opened, 
and  the  cruiser  headed  for  a  point  in  front  of  the  first  escaping  ship, 
firing  at  and  receiving  the  fire  from  two  of  them. 

The  Maria  Teresa  came  on  directly  toward  the  Brooklyn  with 
the  evident  intention  of  ramming  her.  "  Hard  aport  your  helm  !" 
shouted  Schlcy,  and  his  vessel  began  to  turn.  She  turned  so  quickly 
that  in  a  minute  her  big  steel  ram  was  pointing  at  the  oncoming 
enemy  ;  and  the  Maria  J^eresa  had  to  work  inshore  to  avoid  the  same 
fate  which  she  had  planned  to  inflict  upon  the  Commodore's  flagship. 
But  the  shells  of  the  Texas  and  Oregon,  with  a  terrible  shower  of 
shot  from  the  Brooklyn,  had  done  their  work.  The  smoke  began  to 
appear  pouring  from  the  decks  of  the  enemy's  advance  guard,  and 
everybody  knew  that  the  Maria  Teresa  was  on  fire. 

THE  ''GLOUCESTER'S"  PLUCKY  FIGHT. 

In  the  meantime,  the  converted  yacht  Gloucester  could  be  seen 
pluckily  engaged  with  two  torpedo  boat  destroyers  that  had  followed 
the  last  ship  out,  and  "Dick"  Wainwright  won  undying  fame  by 
sinking  them.  At  10  o'clock  the  entire  Spanish  squadron  was  out 
side  the  harbor,  and  going  rapidly  westward.  The  Iowa  and  the 
Indiana  could  not  quite  keep  the  pace,  but  they  did  excellent  execu 
tion  while  they  had  the  range.  The  Oregon,  however,  came  across 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Brooklyn,  which  was  now  engaging  the  Chris- 
tobal  Colon  and  the  Viscaya.  At  10. 10  the  Spanish  ships  seemed  all 
to  be  concentrating  their  shots  on  the  Brooklyn.  She  was  in  a  per 
fect  rain  of  shells,  though  most  of  them  went  over  her. 

, Standing  in  this  hail  of  shells,  Schley  asked  Yeoman  Ellis,  who 
was  near  at  hand  with  a  stadimeter  :  "What  is  the  distance  to  the 
Viscaya  f  "  The  man  took  the  observation.  "  Twenty-two  hundred 
yards,  sir,"  he  said.  There  was  a  whistle,  followed  by  a  splash,  and 
his  head  was  literally  torn  from  his  shoulders  by  an  8-inch  shell. 

The  Maria  Teresa  ran  her  nose  on  the  beach,  and  in  an  instant 
was  a  mass  of  flames.  The  fire  of  the  Brooklyn,  the  Oregon,  and  the 
Indiana  was  then  concentrated  on  the  Almirante  Oquendo,  and  in  ten 
minutes  she,  too,  was  sent  ashore  a  burning  wreck  just  a  short  dis 
tance  from  Santiago.  The  Iowa,  in  the  meantime,  had  sunk  one 
torpedo  boat  destroyer,  and  the  other  one  had  been  driven  ashore  by 


A  LIVELY  CHASE  363 

the  Gloucester  s  terrific  rapid  fire.  The  Iowa  and  Texas  also  poured 
hot  shot  into  the  Oquendo  at  a  distance  of  1,100  yards.  Many  12- 
and  8-inch  shells  were  seen  to  explode  inside  of  her,  and  smoke  came 
out  through  her  hatches. 

Next  the  Viscaya  slowly  drew  abeam  of  the  Iowa,  and  for  the  space 
of  fifteen  minutes  it  was  give  and  take  between  these  two  ships. 
The  Viscaya  fired  rapidly  but  wildly,  not  one  shot  taking  effect  on  the 
Iowa,  while  the  shells  from  the  latter  tore  great  rents  in  the  sides  of 
the  Spaniard.  The  Viscaya  finally  drew  ahead  of  the  Iowa,  but  then 
she  came  under  the  murderous  fire  of  the  Oregon  and  Te.\as.  A 
moment  later  and  she  was  raked  fore  and  aft,  clean  along  her  gun- 
deck,  by  an  8- inch  shell  from  the  Brooklyn.  Another  moment  and  a 
shell  exploded  in  her  superstructure  with  terrific  force,  killing  eighty 
people;  then  she  headed  for  the  beach  at  Acerraderos,  and  was  out  of 
the  running. 

A    LIVELY    CHASE. 

The  Christobal  Colon  seemed  to  be  the  greyhound  of  the  Spanish 
fleet.  Only  the  Brooklyn  and  Oregon  were  able  to  keep  near  her. 
At  1 1  o'clock  the  other  vessels  were  from  six  to  eight  miles  behind. 
Firing  was  suspended  and  all  interest  centred  in  the  chase.  The 
men  came  up  on  deck  and  began  to  cheer.  They  cheered  for  Schley 
and  for  Captain  Clark,  of  the  Oregon,  and  the  Oregon  s  men  returned 
the  chee-r.  Up  to  the  masthead  of  the  Oregon  went  a  pennant. 
14  Remember  the  Maine,"  read  the  signal  officer.  "  Tell  them  we 
have,"  said  Schley,  and  there  was  a  roar,  as  the  answer  went  up,  that 
might  have  been  heard  almost  in  Santiago. 

The  Colon,  at  a  distance  of  five  miles,  hugged  the  shore,  but 
Schley  ordered  the  Oregon  to  follow  her,  and  then,  with  the  Brooklyn, 
he  made  a  straight  course  for  Cape  Cruz,  around  which  the  Colon 
would  have  to  steer  on  a  long  detour  if  she  hoped  to  get  away. 
The  three  vessels  pumped  along  at  great  speed.  In  an  hour  the 
pursuers  had  made  a  considerable  gain  on  their  victim.  Captain 
Clark,  of  the  Oregon,  signalled  :  u  A  strange  ship,  looking  like  an 
Italian,  in  the  distance."  He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  Colon 
was  bought  from  Italy.  Schley,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  forward 
8-inch  turret,  swinging  his  legs  and  happy,  said  :  "  Tell  the  Oregon 
she  can  try  one  of  those  1 3-inch  railroad  trains  on  her." 


364  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

There  was  a  terrible  roar  as  the  big  shell  went  by  the  Brooklyn, 
a  moment  of  suspense  and  watching,  and  then  a  hearty  cheer  as  the 
missile  struck  the  water  close  astern  of  the  Colon,  four  miles  away. 
Another  was  tried.  That  reached  the  mark,  and  there  were  more 
cheers.  Then  the  Brooklyn  opened  her  forward  and  starboard  8-inch 
guns,  and  one  shell  was  seen  to  go  through  the  Colon  at  the  top  of 
her  armor  belt.  At  1.15  P.M.  the  Colon  turned  toward  the  shore  and 
gave  up  the  fight.  As  she  hauled  down  her  flag  the  sailors  on  the 
Brooklyn  and  the  Oregon  began  a  cheer  that  lasted  for  fully  five 
minutes. 

THE    SPANISH    ADMIRAL'S    SURRENDER. 

A  boat  was  lowered  from  the  Brooklyn,  and  Captain  Cook  went 
aboard  to  receive  the  surrender.  The  Spanish  Rear  Admiral,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  said  :  "  I  surrender  unconditionally  to  Commodore 
Schley.  We  were  badly  hurt  and  could  not  get  away."  While 
Captain  Cook  was  returning  to  the  Brooklyn,  the  New  York,  with 
Admiral  Sampson  on  board,  came  along,  ran  in  between  the  Brooklyn 
and  the  prize,  and  ordered  Captain  Cook  to  send  the  prisoners  on 
board  the  New  York.  Commodore  Schley,  seeing  this,  megaphoned 
over  :  "  I  request  the  honor  of  receiving  the  surrender  of  the  officers 
of  the  Christobal  Colon!'  No  answer  was  vouchsafed  him  from  the 
New  York.  Commodore  Schley  then  raised  the  pennant :  "  A  glori 
ous  victory  has  been  won  ;  details  later."  The  answer  from  the 
New  York  was  :  ''  Report  your  casualties." 

Meanwhile  the  Iowa  headed  for  the  wreck  of  the  Viscaya,vf'hich  was 
burning  furiously  fore  and  aft.  When  the  big  battleship  had  approached 
as  near  as  the  depth  of  the  water  would  permit,  Captain  Evans  low 
ered  all  his  boats  and  sent  them  to  the  assistance  of  the  unfortunate 
men  who  were  being  drowned  by  dozens  or  roasted  on  the  decks.  It 
was  soon  discovered  that  insurgent  Cubans  on  the  shore  were  shoot 
ing  at  men  who  were  struggling  in  the  water  after  having  surrendered 
to  the  Americans.  Evans  immediately  put  a  stop  to  this,  but  he 
could  not  put  a  stop  to  the  mutilation  of  many  bodies  by  the  sharks 
inside  the  reef.  All  the  Spaniards  were  practically  without  clothes. 
Some  of  them  had  their  legs  torn  off  by  fragments  of  shells.  Others, 
who  had  been  in  the  water,  were  mutilated  in  every  conceivable  way. 


PRAYER  ON  BOARD  THE  "TEX AS"  365 

Admiral  Cervera  surrendered  to  Commander  Wainwright,  of  the 
Gloucester,  who  had  been  a  deck  officer  on  board  the  ill-fated  Maine, 
and  who  thus  by  the  irony  of  fate  had  an  opportutnity  to  "  Remem 
ber  the  Maine/'  indeed.  The  crews  of  the  Maria  Teresa  and  of  the 
Almirante  Oquendo  were  taken  on  board  the  auxiliary  cruiser  Har 
vard,  which  vessel  had  nearly  1,000  prisoners  on  board  by  midnight. 

The  annals  of  naval  history  record  no  more  complete  destruction 
of  an  enemy's  fleet  than  this.  Nor  had  there  ever  been  a  more  nota 
ble  act  of  implicit  obedience  to  a  superior  power  under  such  awfully 
adverse  circumstances  as  those  which  confronted  the  Spanish  Admiral 
in  this  connection.  It  was  subsequently  learned  that  Cervera  received 
direct  orders  from  Madrid  to  make  the  sortie,  and  that  he  had  no 
thought  of  escaping,  except  by  a  mere  chance.  This  heroic  feature 
of  the  enemy's  position  was  prominent  in  the  minds  of  his  conquerors, 
and  the  Admiral  and  his  men  were  treated  with  every  consideration, 
so  much  so  that  Cervera,  during  his  detention  in  the  United  States 
as  a  prisoner  of  war,  never  ceased  to  speak  of  it. 

PRAYER    ON    BOARD    THE    "  TEXAS." 

The  scenes  and  incidents  of  this  great  naval  conflict  would  fill 

& 

the  pages  of  many  books,  but  some  there  are  which  were  particularly 
striking.  Notable  among  these  was  the  assembling  of  his  crew  upon 
the  quarter-deck,  by  Captain  Philip,  of  the  Texas,  immediately  after 
the  consummation  of  the  victory,  and  his  public  acknowledgement, 
then  and  there,  of  his  belief  in  Almighty  God,  by  the  offering  of  a 
prayer  of  thanksgiving  for  the  success  that  had  attended  the  efforts 
of  the  American  ships. 

"  Fighting  Bob"  Evans,  the  Commander  of  the  Iowa,  when  some 
one  referred  in  his  presence  to  Captain  Philip's  action  in  this  regard, 
and  asked  him  why  he  had  not  followed  the  example,  said  :  "  I  found 
my  ship  surrounded  by  boats  carrying  dying  and  wounded  prisoners. 
To  leave  these  men  to  suffer  for  want  of  food  and  clothing  while  I 
called  my  men  aft  to  offer  prayer  was  not  my  idea  either  of  Christianity 
or  religion.  I  preferred  to  clothe  the  naked,  feed  the  hungry,  and  suc 
cor  the  sick,  and  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  Almighty  God  has 
not  put  a  black  mark  against  me  on  account  of  it,  for  every  drop  of 


zu 


366  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 

blood  in  my  body  on  that  afternoon  of  July  3d  was  singing   thanks 
and  praise  to  Him  for  the  victory  we  had  won." 

The  official  announcement  of  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish 
fleet  was  cabled  to  Washington  as  follows  : 

"  SIBONEY,  July  4th,  3  A.M. 
"  To  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  : 

The  fleet  under  my  command  offers  the  Nation  as  a  4th  of 
July  present  the  destruction  of  the  whole  of  Cervera's  fleet.  Not 
one  escaped.  Their  attempt  to  escape  was  made  at  9.30  A.M.  yester 
day,  and  at  2  P.M.  the  last,  the  Christobal  Colon,  ran  ashore  60  miles 
west  of  Santiago,  and  let  down  her  colors. 

"  The  Infmta  Maria  Teresa,  Oquendo  and  Viscaya  were  forced 
ashore,  burned  and  blown  up  within  20  miles  of  Santiago.  The 
Furor  and  Pluton  were  destroyed  within  four  miles  of  the  port. 

"  Enemy's  loss  probably  several  hundred  from  gun  fire,  explo 
sions  and  drowning.  About  1,300  prisoners,  including  Admiral 
Cervera.  Our  loss,  one  killed  and  two  wounded.  The  man  killed 
was  George  H.  Ellis,  chief  yeoman  of  the  Brooklyn. 

SAMPSON." 

The  Spanish  prisoners  were  transferred  at  once  to  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  and  from  there  Admiral  Cervera  was  taken  to  Annapolis,  Md., 
where  he  remained  until  his  release.  The  Maria  Teresa  was  subse 
quently  raised  under  the  supervision  of  Naval  Constructor  Hobson, 
but  was  lost  on  her  way  to  Hampton  Roads.  The  other  Spanish 
vessels  were  left  upon  the  beach  where  they  had  been  driven  by  the 
fierce  onslaught  of  the  American  gunners.  Most  of  the  victorious 
American  vessels  returned  to  American  ports  soon  after  their  notable 
achievement ;  others  remained  at  Santiago  to  aid  the  army  in  the  final 
capture  of  that  city.  This  great  victory,  however,  is  conceded  to  have 
practically  ended  the  war,  for  there  was  no  longer  any  hope  that  the 
beleaguered  city  could  withstand  the  operations  that  were  being  made 
against  it. 


CHAPTER  XX 
The  Invasion  of  Cuba  by  the  Army 

General  Shatter  Starts  from  Tampa  with  Transports. — The  Shutting  up  of  the  Spanish 
Fleet  Changes  the  Campaign  from  Havana  to  Santiago. — The  Landing  of  Troops 
at  Baiquiri. — The  Brilliant  Charge  of  the  "Rough  Riders"  under  Colonel  Wood 
and  "Teddy"  Roosevelt. — Marvelous  Bravery  at  El  Caney  and  San  Juan  Hill. 
The  Small  American  Force  though  Handicapped  on  all  Sides  Wins  Victory  from 
the  Better  Armed  and  Better  Protected  Spaniards  by  Sheer  Bravery,  and  the  Mad 
Rush  of  their  Battle. — Terrible  and  Costly  Hours  of  Waiting. — Shatter  111  in  the 
Rear,  Generals  Wheeler,  Lawton,  Chaffee,  Colonels  Wood  and  "Teddy" 
Roosevelt  Lead  the  Men  to  a  Marvelous  Victory. 

THE  troops  that  had  been  mobilizing  at  the  different  camps  were 
more  than  longing  for  a  chance  to  join  in  an  attack  upon 
Havana,  and  when  the  orders  for  a  forward  movement  were 
given,  many  who  were  not  in  the  secrets  of  the  campaign  thought 
they  were  bound  for  the  Cuban  capital.  Word  had  come  to  the 
President,  however,  and  to  the  Departments  in  Washington,  that  the 
situation  in  the  harbor  at  Santiago  demanded  immediate  operations 
on  shore.  The  fleet  was  maintaining  a  perfect  blockade,  but  could 
not  coax  the  rat  from  its  hole.  To  get  behind  the  enemy,  therefore, 
and  to  grind  him,  if  possible,  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  mill 
stones  was  an  absolute  necessity.  The  original  plan,  which  had 
Havana  for  the  objective  point,  was  therefore  changed,  and  the  eyes 
of  the  leaders  of  the  military  expeditions  to  Cuba  were  turned  towards 
Santiago. 

It  was  on  June  13,  1898,  that  troops  began  to  leave  Tampa  and 
Key  West  to  play  their  part  in  the  operations  against  Santiago. 
Seven  days  later  all  the  transports  bearing  them  arrived  off  the  har 
bor.  The  start  from  Florida  had  been  much  delayed.  There  was 
ground  for  the  criticism  that  everything  had  not  been  well  planned, 
but  the  plans,  such  as  they  were,  were  pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as 
possible  under  the  circumstances,  and  the  fleet,  when  it  finally  loomed 

367 


368  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

in  the  offing  opposite  the  neck  of  the  bottle  in  which  Cervera's  fleet 
was  held  in  bondage,  presented  quite  a  formidable  spectacle. 

The  transports  rolled  about  in  that  vicinity  for  the  next  thirty- 
six  or  forty  hours,  but  on  the  second  day,  the  23d,  General  Shafter 
landed  his  army  of  16,000  soldiers  at  Daiquiri,  a  few  miles  east  of  the 
Castle  of  Morro.  This  landing  was  accomplished  with  a  loss  of  only 
two  men,  and  these  met  their  fate  by  drowning.  Before  the  coming 
of  the  troops  the  Spanish  had  evacuated  the  village  of  Baiquiri, 
which  is  just  a  little  back  from  the  landing.  They  set  fire  to  the 
town,  destroyed  the  powder  magazines,  and  utterly  demolished  a  rail 
road  roundhouse  in  which  were  several  locomotives. 

LANDING  THE  TROOPS  FOR  BATTLE. 

Admiral  Sampson  had  escorted  the  transports  with  men-of-war, 
and  when  the  soldier-bearing  vessels  approached  the  landing  places 
the  warships  shelled  the  vicinity  and  opened  fire  also  upon  the  forts  to 
the  east  and  west  for  a  distance  of  several  miles  so  that  the  attention 
of  the  enemy  was  perfectly  distracted,  and  the  soldiers  landed 
unmolested. 

To  have  made  this  landing  on  the  imperfect  wharves  and  from 
the  beach  boats  which  were  best  available  would  have  been  terribly 
disastrous  if  the  enemy  had  been  actively  opposed,  but  under  the 
circumstances  it  was  only  the  crowded  condition  of  the  transports, 
and  the  awkward  arrangements  that  were  made,  that  caused  it  to 
be  at  all  disagreeable  to  these  men  who  had  long  been  eager  to  gain 
a  foothold  upon  Cuban  soil. 

Colonel  Huntington's  marines,  who  had  already  landed  at  Guan- 
tanamo  and  had  established  Camp  McCalla  at  the  sacrifice  of  several 
lives,  had  expected  that  the  army  of  Shafter  would  land  where  they 
did.  The  facilities  at  that  point,  however,  were  far  from  being  good. 
The  marines  themselves  had  found  it  hard  to  reach  the  shore,  and  it 
would  have  been  practically  impossible  for  the  regulars  and  artillery 
to  have  disembarked  at  that  point.  Shafter  had  thought  of  making 
the  landing  at  Acerraderos.  The  Government  map  shows  a  "road  run 
ning  from  this  point  to  the  city  of  Santiago,  but  the  engineers  found 
that  this  so-called  road  was  simply  a  mule  path  over  which  it  would 
be  killing  work  to  attempt  to  transport  artillery. 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.  MAJOR-GENERAL  ELWELL  S.   OTIS. 

POPULAR  HEROES  OF  THE   SPAN  ISH -AM  ERICAN  WAR 


LANDING  THE  TROOPS  FOR  BATTLE  37 'i 

For  this  and  other  reasons  Daiquiri  was  selected  as  the  place  for 
disembarkation.  Back  of  the  town,  already  referred  to  as  having 
been  burned  by  the  Spaniards  upon  the  approach  of  the  transports, 
there  is  a  high  plateau  extending  along  the  coast  almost  to  Santiago. 
Behind  this  plateau  a  coral  road  runs  for  some  distance,  occupying  a 
good  strategic  position  for  part  of  the  way.  Moreover,  there  is  a 
famous  iron  pier  at  Baiquiri,  built  by  American  capital  for  the  sake 
of  facilitating  the  loading  of  ore  brought  down  from  the  Cuban  mines 
which  were  being  worked  by  a  Chicago  corporation.  This  pier  was 
particularly  well  built  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed,  but 
as  its  height  above  the  water  was  about  15  feet  it  was  really  not 
satisfactorily  available  for  the  landing  of  troops.  Its  shore  approaches, 
however,  were  advantageous  in  this  connection,  and  it  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  Baiquiri  presented  as  good  advantages  for  the  disem 
barkation  as  could  have  been  found  at  any  other  place  along  the  coast. 

The  fleet  of  transports  consisted  of  about  40  vessels.  The  con 
voy  was  made  up  of  16  warships  of  different  rates.  The  expedition 
comprised  14,564  enlisted  men,  and  773  officers.  The  great  majority 
of  the  the  troops  were  regulars.  The  only  volunteer  organizations 
were  the  Seventy-first  New  York,  Second  Massachusetts,  and  two 
dismounted  squadrons  of  four  troops  each  from  the  First  Volunteer 
Cavalry,  with  Colonel  Leonard  Wood  in  command  and  Theodore 
Roosevelt  as  Lieutenant-Colonel.  There  were  also  two  dismounted 
squadrons  of  four  troops  each  from  the  First,  Third,  Sixth,  Ninth  and 
Tenth  regular  cavalry,  making  a  total  of  2,875  enlisted  men  of  dis 
mounted  cavalry  and  159  officers. 

Of  artillery,  there  were  light  batteries  E  and  K  of  the  First 
Artillery,  A  and  F  of  the  Second,  and  G  and  H  of  the  Fourth  ;  a 
total  of  1 8  officers  and  445  enlisted  men  from  this  branch  of  the 
service.  There  were  also  200  enlisted  men  and  9  officers  of  engineers, 
and  one  detachment  from  the  Signal  Corps,  comprising  45  enlisted 
men  and  two  officers. 

The  regiments  of  regular  infantry  were  the  First,  Second,  Third, 
Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Sixteenth, 
Seventeenth,  Twentieth,  Twenty-first,  Twenty-second,  Twenty-fourth, 
and  Twenty-fifth,  making,  with  the  volunteers,  a  total  of  561  officers 
and  10,709  enlisted  men. 


372  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

When  the  army  began  to  disembark  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
undue  haste  on  the  part  of  different  commands  to  be  the  first  to  get 
on  shore.  Life  on  board  the  troopships  had  not  been  pleasant. 
They  had  all  been  fearfully  crowded.  Everybody  suffered  greatly. 
The  thermometer  had  been  close  to  a  hundred  down  in  the  holds  of 
the  vessels  where  the  troops  were  packed  in  like  sardines  at  night. 
On  one  transport  alone,  the  Cherokee,  five  regulars,  inured  though 
they  were  to  all  kinds  of  hardships,  fainted  away,  while  one  or  more 
cases  of  prostration  had  been  reported  from  nearly  every  other 
transport. 

THE    SCENE    AT    THE    LANDING. 

A  thousand  men  could  have  prevented  ten  times  that  number 
from  landing  at  Daiquiri,  but  the  Spaniards  apparently  had  their 
hands  full  at  other  points.  Still,  a  few  warships  could  have  made  the 
position  very  hot  for  any  one  who  undertook  to  prevent  the  landing. 
The  woods  and  the  hillsides  for  miles  around  Daiquiri  were  shelled 
by  the  vessels  of  Sampson's  fleet,  and  the  Spaniards  practically  kept 
out  of  the  way.  From  their  point  of  observation,  the  fleet  of  trans 
ports  with  the  convoy  of  battleships,  must  have  presented  a  decidedly 
formidable  appearance,  and  when  the  soldiers  began  to  swarm  in  the 
rigging  and  over  the  sides,  cheering  wildly,  the  bands  playing  national 
airs,  interspersed  with  popular  songs,  the  men  joining  in  the  choruses, 
the  warships  banging  away  at  the  beach,  smoke  enough  hanging  over 
the  water  to  suggest  war  indeed,  the  scene  so  impressed  the  Spaniards 
who  saw  it,  that  they  apparently  stood  not  upon  the  order  of  their 
going  but  went  at  once. 

Throughout  the  day  smoke  rose  up  from  the  buildings  which  the 
retreating  Spaniards  had  fired  in  the  town,  and  made  a  sort  of  a 
screen  between  the  transports  and  the  lower  foothills.  The  higher 
ground,  however,  was  plainly  in  sight  from  the  vessels,  and  detach 
ments  of  Spanish  horse  and  foot,  scurrying  along  upward  and  away 
from  this  scene  of  impressively  active  operations,  could  be  seen  to 
halt  and  look  back  as  if  taking  in  the  full  import  of  the  picture. 

Outside,  stretching  to  the  offing,  were  the  transports,  ranging 
from  the  huge  coastwise  steamer  built  on  the  models  of  Atlantic 
liners  to  side-wheelers  and  nondescript  vessels  half-way,  apparently, 


THE  SCENE  AT  THE  LANDING  373 

between  the  ark  and  a  tugboat.  All  were  moving  constantly  to 
overcome  the  drift  of  the  current.  Among  them,  and  spread  out  on 
either  side  toward  the  shore,  were  the  convoys,  whose  keen-eyed 
lookouts  constantly  scanned  the  beach  and  the  hills  beyond,  and 
which  occasionally  sent  a  shot  whizzing  through  the  air. 

Small  boats  were  everywhere.  They  came  and  went  singly,  in 
pairs,  and  in  long  strings.  They  were  rowed,  towed  and  allowed  to 
drift.  They  clung  to  the  ships,  lined  the  landing  wharf,  and  filled  all 
space  between.  The  soldiers,  scrambling  over  the  sides  of  the  vessels 
as  best  they  might,  packed  themselves  away  in  these  boats,  and  it 
was  in  connection  with  this  haste  and  recklessness  that  the  only 
fatalities  occurred.  Each  man  carried  his  gun  and  field  accoutre 
ments,  and  his  blankets  were  slung  in  a  roll  over  his  shoulder. 

It  usually  happened  that  men  from  several  different  commands 
would  find  themselves  in  the  same  small  boat,  but  when  they  landed 
at  a  low  wharf  inside  the  iron  pier,  straggling  up  to  a  level  bit  of 
sand  beyond  it,  or  if  they  had  stepped  overboard  in  shallow  water  and 
waded  ashore,  they  managed  to  fall  into  their  own  companies  without 
much  delay,  and,  marching  off,  were  almost  immediately  out  of  sight 
in  the  tangle  of  tropical  underbrush.  Of  the  thousands  that  landed 
not  more  than  two  or  three  hundred  were  in  sight  at  any  one  time 
during  the  three  days  in  which  the  disembarkation  was  going  on. 

Some  of  the  men  were  packed  in  the  small  boats  for  four  hours 
between  the  time  they  came  over  the  side  of  the  transport  and  the 
time  when  it  was  their  turn  at  the  wharves.  This  is  the  reason  why 
so  many  became  restless,  and  why  hundreds  of  the  impatient  soldiers 
left  the  small  boats  and  waded,  sometimes  up  to  their  waists,  though 
even  this  did  not  cool  their  desire  to  be  on  terra  firma. 

Those  transports  which  had  stock  on  board  drew  up  along  the 
dock  of  the  coal  company.  One  of  the  side-wheelers  got  jammed 
against  the  wharf  in  such  a  position  that  in  self-defence  it  had  to  dis 
charge  its  cargo  of  100  mules  into  thirty  feet  of  water,  and  these 
poor  beasts,  apparently  as  eager  as  the  soldiers  to  get  ashore,  swam 
gamely  to  the  beach,  fully  forty  yards  away. 

During  the  first  day  of  the  disembarkation  the  volunteers  all  got 
ashore  and  a  great  part  of  the  regulars.  This  day  extended  far  into 
the  night,  and  the  next  day  began  where  its  predecessor  had  finished. 


374  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

The  searchlights  from  the  men-of-war  turned  night  into  day,  and 
quite  as  good  progress  was  made  at  midnight  as  at  noon.  The  Engi 
neer  and  Signal  Corps  were  among  the  first  to  land.  The  artillery, 
including  the  siege  guns,  were  among  the  last.  The  cavalry  had 
things  pretty  much  their  own  way,  for  Roosevelt  had  set  their  pace 
at  Tampa  by  practically  pre-empting  a  vessel  to  which  some  other 
command  had  been  assigned,  and  here  at  Daiquiri,  Colonel  Wood 
having  left  the  details  of  the  disembarkation  to  him,  it  turned 
out  the  Rough  Riders  were  on  shore  among  the  first,  and  the  other 
cavalry  were  not  far  behind.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  pulling  and 
hauling,  and  it  looked  for  a  time  as  if  it  would  take  a  week  to  get 
everybody  landed.  General  Shafter  and  Admiral  Sampson  came 
ashore  in  the  same  boat,  and  were  loudly  cheered  by  those  who  had 
preceded  them. 

General  Joe  Wheeler,  in  command  of  the  cavalry  division, 
promptly  pushed  forward  to  Siboney.  General  Young  and  Colonels 
Wood  and  Roosevelt  were  with  him.  These  knew  that  the  first  work 
to  be  done  in  the  way  of  facing  the  enemy  would  probably  fall  upon 
them.  Shafter  established  temporary  headquarters  at  Playa  del  Este, 
and  the  great  bulk  of  the  infantry  bore  off  toward  Jaragua,  the 
artillery  being  instructed  to  come  on  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The 
Rough  Riders,  making  a  forced  march,  found  themselves,  the  first 
night  after  their  landing,  in  a  position  which  gave  them  a  surety  of 
being  in  the  very  van  of  those  who  were  to  have  this  early  oppor 
tunity  to  show  the  stuff  they  were  made  of. 

THE  ENEMY  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE. 

On  the  afternoon  of  June  23,  1898,  while  the  artillery  and 
infantry  were  still  moving  toward  Jaragua,  word  came  to  General 
Wheeler,  through  a  Cuban  officer,  that  the  enemy  had  gathered  in 
considerable  numbers  at  Guasimas,  and  that  they  were  blocking  the 
way  to  Santiago  in  that  direction.  There  is  no  town  at  Guasimas, 
not  even  so  much  as  a  village.  It  is  merely  the  junction  of  two  trails 
that  meet  at  the  point  of  a  V,  one  coming  from  Siboney  and  the 
other  from  Daiquiri,  and  both  proceeding  as  one  toward  Santiago. 
That  same  afternoon  General  Wheeler  took  with  him  a  handful 
of  Cubans  and  reconnoitered  this  trail.  That  night  he  sat  around  a 


THE  ENEMY  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE  375 

camp  fire  with  General  Young,  Colonel  Wood,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Roosevelt,  and,  after  discussing  the  situation  thoroughly,  it  was 
decided  to  attack  the  enemy  on  the  following  morning. 

Little  sleeping  was  done  that  night.  The  news  soon  flew 
through  the  cavalry  quarters  that  there  was  to  be  "business"  the 
next  day.  Moreover,  stores  and  ammunition  were  still  being  landed 
on  the  coast  only  three  or  four  miles  away,  and  the  searchlights  on 
the  vessels  in  the  harbor  were  throwing  their  great  arms  of  light 
athwart  the  sky  in  every  direction,  so  that  the  whole  place  was  almost 
as  light  as  day.  In  this  night  light,  and  in  the  midst  of  this  wakeful- 
ness,  the  men  did  their  best  to  dry  their  uniforms,  and  considerable 
time  was  spent  in  cooking  coffee  and  bacon. 

At  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  men  having  had  not  more  than 
two  or  three  hours  sleep  at  the  best,  the  forward  movement  began. 
General  Young  started  first  toward  Guasimas  with  the  First  and 
Tenth  (dismounted)  Cavalry,  taking  the  eastern  trail.  The  Rough 
Riders  climbed  the  steep  hill  above  Siboney  and  struck  in  on  the 
western  trail.  There  was  about  half  a  mile  between  the  Rough 
Riders  and  General  Young's  command.  Within  less  than  half  an 
hour  after  the  men  left  Siboney,  Colonel  Wood  took  the  very  precau 
tions  which  the  earliest  reports  said  had  been  neglected.  He  sent 
Captain  Capron  forward  with  his  troop  as  an  advance  guard.  There 
were  Cuban  scouts  in  front  of  these  and  flankers  on  the  right  and 
left. 

At  about  6  o'clock  Colonel  Wood  ordered  a  halt.  Several  of 
the  officers  were  mounted.  They  had  been  moving  slowly  to  give 
the  men  a  chance  to  keep  up.  Every  few  moments  a  pause  had  been 
made  for  the  purpose  of  resting,  so  when  this  halt  order  came  the 
men  thought  it  one  of  the  ordinary  stops  that  had  been  allowed  them 
during  the  hard  march.  But  those  who  were  in  sight  of  the  leaders 
had  noticed  a  Cuban  scout  dropping  back  and  whispering  softly  in 
the  ear  of  Colonel  Wood.  A  dozen  men  were  sent  back  with  the 
scout,  but  there  was  otherwise  no  evidence  of  the  seriousness  of  the 
situation.  The  country  was  covered  with  high  grass  and  chaparral. 
Thousands  of  Spaniards  might  have  been  hidden  without  betraying 
their  whereabouts,  and  in  it,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  thousands  were  con 
cealed  and  ready  to  do  much  damage. 


376  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

It  was  fully  ten  minutes  before  Colonel  Wood  gave  the  signal 
for  the  entire  command  to  advance.  Colonel  Roosevelt  took  a  third 
of  the  regiment  into  the  forest  on  the  right.  Firing  was  begun  by 
the  hidden  foe,  so  our  men  quickened  their  pace,  and  were  preparing 
for  a  rush  toward  a  point  from  which  firing  could  be  distinctly  heard, 
when  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  sent  with  the  Cuban  scouts  a  few 
moments  before  met  them.  He  had  been  wounded.  His  face  was 
covered  with  blood.  He  was  sobbing  like  a  child. 

"I  am  not  hurt,"  he  said,  in  an  apologetic  tone,  "but  I  am  a 
fool.  I  set  off  one  of  my  own  cartridges  while  I  was  loading.  My 
face  and  eyes  are  full  of  powder  and  I  can't  fight."  Then  he  sat 
down  on  the  grass,  and  the  others  went  on,  leaving  him  alone  there 
sobbing  and  swearing  alternately. 

THE    FOE    IN    AMBUSH. 

In  the  meantime  the  enemy  was  pouring  a  telling  fire  into  the 
men.  General  Young,  with  the  regulars,  was  off  at  the  left,  Colonel 
Wood  occupied  the  centre,  and  Roosevelt  was  on  the  right.  These 
three  gradually  drew  together  at  the  apex  of  the  V,  pushing  forward 
through  the  high  hot  grass  and  undergrowth  right  into  the  face  of  the 
firing  that  came  from  the  dense  thickets,  and  with  never  an  oppor 
tunity  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  to  get  a  fair  shot  at  those  who 
were  firing  upon  them  from  ambush. 

Every  little  while  a  comparatively  open  space  would  be  encoun 
tered.  Then  it  was  like  breaking  through  the  walls  of  a  maze.  In 
other  places  the  troopers  could  not  see  those  who  were  nearest  them. 
If  they  heard  a  twig  break,  or  the  heavy  breathing  of  a  man,  they 
knew  they  were  not  alone,  but  there  was  no  sign  of  human  beings 
except  in  the  intervals  when  they  came  out  into  the  open. 

The  fire  of  the  enemy  was  awfully  accurate.  Nine  men  of  the 
Rough  Riders  were  killed  in  the  short  space  of  three  minutes.  The 
wounded  were  dragged  into  the  shade  when  opportunity  offered,  but 
many  of  those  who  had  fallen  were  left  to  lie,  where  they  fell,  until  the 
first-aid  men  or  the  surgeons  could  find  them. 

The  enemy  was  firing  very  low.  The  Rough  Riders  had  to 
advance  oftentimes  on  their  hands  and  knees.  It  was  mighty  hot 
work,  and  it  didn't  take  long  for  everybody  to  strip  to  the  waist.  If 


THE  TERRIBLE  ROLL  OF  DEATH  377 

a  fellow  kept  his  cartridge  belt  and  canteen,  he  had  all  he  wanted  to 
carry,  so  the  trail  along  which  they  passed  was  strewn  with  bits  of 
uniforms  and  articles  of  equipment,  and  looked  more  as  if  a  retreating 
army  had  passed  that  way  than  that  an  army  of  advance  had  fought 
its  way  to  victory.  Blanket  rolls,  haversacks,  carbines,  canteens, 
hats  and  even  shoes  were  cast  aside,  and  here  and  there  an  empty 
cartridge  belt  was  found  in  evidence  of  some  one  having  used  the 
last  of  his  precious  ammunition. 

THE    TERRIBLE    ROLL    OF    DEATH. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  there  were  about  3,000  Spaniards 
engaged  in  this  fight,  The  Americans  were  less  than  1,000.  The 
Americans  had  16  killed  and  52  wounded,  42  of  the  casualties  occur 
ring  to  the  Rough  Riders  and  26  among  the  Regulars.  The  Spanish 
killed  were  about  100,  notwithstanding  their  advantage  of  ambush. 
Thirty-seven  Spaniards  were  found  dead  on  the  ground.  The 
wounded  had  been  carried  off,  and  it  was  ascertained  after  the  battle 
that  many  of  the  killed  had  also  been  carried  away  and  buried. 

Prominent  among  those  who  were  killed  along  the  bloody  trail 
of  Guasimas  was  Captain  Capron.  He  was  the  fifth  generation  of 
soldiers  that  his  family  had  produced,  and  his  father  was  at  the  head 
of  a  battery  of  artillery  only  a  few  miles  away.  The  younger  Capron 
was  only  28  years  of  age.  He  was  shot  in  the  shoulder.  The  wound 
was  known  to  be  fatal  from  the  first.  One  or  two  of  his  friends  saw 
him  as  the  surgeon  was  trying  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  man. 

The  death  of  Sergeant  Hamilton  Fish  was  another  sad  event  of 
this  day's  experiences.  Fish,  defiant  in  life,  had  met  death  standing. 
Half  a  dozen  of  the  troopers  had  called  to  him  to  crouch  and  creep 
along  with  the  rest  of  them,  but  he  was  at  the  head  of  his  men  and 
stalked  across  the  occasional  open  spaces  without  a  thought  of  him 
self  until  finally  he  fell  like  a  log  across  the  trail. 

Some  of  the  escapes  from  death  were  miraculous.  Champney 
Marshal,  of  Washington,  had  one  bullet  pass  through  his  sleeve. 
Another  passed  through  his  shirt,  where  it  was  pulled  close  to  the 
spine.  The  holes  where  the  ball  entered  and  went  out  again  were 
clearly  cut.  Another  man's  skin  was  slightly  burned  by  three  bullets 
in  three  distinct  lines,  as  though  it  had  been  touched  for  an  instant 


THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

by  the  lighted  end  of  a  cigar.  Roosevelt  himself  was  so  close  to  one 
bullet,  when  it  struck  a  tree,  that  it  filled  his  eyes  and  ears  with  splin 
ters,  and  his  color  sergeant,  Wright,  following  close  at  his  heels,  was 
clipped  three  times  in  the  head  and  neck,  and  four  bullets  passed 
through  the  folds  of  the  flag  he  carried. 

THE    MAN    WHO    WOULDN'T    GIVE    UP. 

A  cowboy  named  Heffner  was  shot  through  the  body.  He 
asked  to  be  propped  up  against  a  tree  with  his  canteen  and  cartridge 
belt  beside  him.  As  those  who  placed  him  in  this  position  turned 
away  they  saw  him  firing  over  their  heads  in  the  direction  of  the 
enemy.  Subsequently  this  man  was  taken  to  a  hospital  apparently 
half-dead,  but  when  he  heard  an  ambulance  coming  to  take  wounded 
men  to  the  hospital  ship,  he  rolled  off  of  his  blanket  under  the  edge 
of  the  tent,  and  the  ambulance  went  off  without  him.  Next  day  he 
dragged  himself  to  the  firing  line.  He  was  sent  back  by  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  but  when  it  came  to  the  battle  of  El  Caney  this  man  appeared 
among  the  rest  of  the  Rough  Riders  and  insisted  on  handling  a  gun. 

"  I  thought  I  told  you  to  go  to  the  hospital  and  stay  there,"  said 
Colonel  Roosevelt. 

"  I  believe  you  did,  Colonel ;  but  there  was  nothing  going  on 
back  there,  and  I  thought  I  had  better  be  with  the  rest  of  the  boys." 

This  man  recovered  from  his  wound  sufficiently  to  come  home 
with  his  regiment  to  Montauk  Point,  and  subsequently  helped  to 
make  some  of  the  noise  that  the  Rough  Riders  made  during  Colonel 
Roosevelt's  successful  campaign  for  the  governorship  of  New  York. 

Another  of  the  men  who  fell  in  the  first  volley  was  Captain  Mc- 
Clintock.  A  private  who  had  been  sick  for  some  days,  seeing  Mc- 
Clintock  lying  on  the  field,  crawled  up  between  the  latter  and  the 
firing  line  and  said  : 

"  Never  mind,  Captain  ;  I  am  between  you  and  the  enemy.  They 
can't  hurt  you  now." 

Edward  Culver,  a  Cherokee  Indian,  was  alongside  of  Hamilton 
Fish  when  the  latter  was  shot.  As  Fish  fell  to  the  ground,  he  called 
out,  "  I  am  wounded."  Culver  called  back,  "  And  I  am  killed." 

Culver  was  shot  through  the  left  lung,  the  ball  coming  out  the 
muscle  of  his  back.  He  believed  he  was  dying,  but  he  said  if  h~  was 


THE  HEROIC  WORK  OF  "BOB"  CHURCH  381 

to  die  he  would  do  the  Spaniards  as  much  damage  as  possible  before 
leaving.  He  braced  himself  up  against  a  bush  and  sent  forty-five 
bullets  at  the  enemy  before  being  taken  away. 

THE    HEROIC    WORK    OF    "HOB"    CHURCH. 

"Bob"  Church,  of  Princeton  football  fame,  was  junior  surgeon 
of  the  Roosevelt  regiment.  Me  carried  as  many  as  half  a  dozen 
wounded  men  on  his  back  half  a  mile  from  the  firing  line  to  a  tempo 
rary  dressing  station,  and  those  who  knew  of  the  work  he  did  on  that 
day  say  that  these  and  many  others  owe  their  lives  to  his  indefatiga- 
bility  and  nerve. 

There  was  no  difference  in  the  bravery  of  the  two  predominating 
elements  in  the  Rough  Riders'  organization,  but  there  was  a  differ 
ence  in  their  style  of  fighting.  The  cowboys  of  the  western  frontier 
slipped  cautiously  from  cover  and  dodged  deftly  behind  the  next  pro 
tecting  thicket,  but  tke  eastern  athletes  made  wild  rushes  and  were 
reckless  in  exposing  themselves.  On  every  hand,  however,  evidence 
was  constantly  accumulating  that  there  was  never  a  body  of  men 
possessing  such  varied  elements,  and  yet  it  was  easily  welded  into  an 
effective  fighting-machine  so  easily  that  a  foreigner  would  not  have 
known  that  all  these  men  were  not  as  much  brothers  in  blood,  charac 
ter,  occupation,  mutual  faith  and  long  companionship  as  any  soldier 
organization  that  ever  took  the  field. 

The  dominant  element  was  the  big-game  hunter  and  the  cowboy. 
Every  field  officer  and  captain  had  at  one  time. or  another  owned  a 
ranch.  The  majority  came  from  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Oklohoma, 
and  the  Indian  Territory,  though  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union 
was  represented.  There  were  graduates  of  Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia, 
Princeton,  Cornell,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Virginia,  of  Colo 
rado,  Iowa,  and  other  western  and  southern  colleges.  There  were 
members  of  the  Knickerbocker  Club  of  New  York,  the  Somerset 
Club  of  Boston,  and  of  famous  horse  organizations  of  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  and  New  Jersey.  There  were  revenue  officers  from 
Georgia  and  Tennessee,  policemen  from  New  York  City,  half  a  dozen 
deputy  marshals  from  Colorado,  several  Texan  rangers,  three  or  four 
Cherokees  and  Chickasaws,  Choctaws  and  Creeks,  and  one  Pawnee 
Indian.  There  were  Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Jews  in  this  organi- 


382  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

zation  ;  there  was  one  strapping  Australian,  and  one  of  the  Queen's 
Mounted  Police  from  the  British-American  possessions,  though  90 
per  cent,  of  all  were  native  born  Americans. 

This  is  the  sort  of  material  that  forced  the  Spaniards  along  the 
Guasimas  trail  back  from  the  position  they  had  occupied  and  gradu 
ally  drove  them  out  of  reach.  The  result  was  that  the  way  was 
cleared  through  this  defile  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Santiago. 
Furthermore,  the  fact  that  the  Spaniards  who  had  occupied  this  com 
manding  position  were  not  re-enforcecl,  demonstrated  the  further  fact 
that  the  enemy  knew  how  useless  it  would  be  to  stop  the  onrush  of 
the  Americans,  and  established  in  the  minds  of  the  American  com 
manders  the  idea  that  their  strongest  opposition  would  be  met  much 
nearer  the  beleaguered  city. 

The  position  of  the  Spanish  in  the  vicinity  of  Guasimas  was 
naturally  so  strong  that,  if  it  had  been  held  in  force,  the  United  States 
troops  must  have  had  several  days  of  hard  fighting  before  they  could 
have  driven  the  enemy  from  the  mountainous  ridges  commanding  the 
road.  But  after  the  onslaught  of  the  dismounted  cavalry  squadrons, 
the  Spaniards  made  no  attempt  to  utilize  the  natural  advantages 
afforded  by  the  lay  of  the  land,  and  fell  back  immediately  on  the 
line  of  defences  at  San  Juan  and  El  Caney,  almost  within  firing  dis 
tance  of  Santiago. 

ROOSEVELT    TAKES    COMMAND    OF    THE    ROUGH    RIDERS. 

Soon  after  noon,  on  the  day  of  the  Guasimas  fight,  the  advance 
guard  of  the  cavalry  was  pushed  forward  to  the  plateau  at  Sevilla. 
Here  the  country  was  fairly  open  with  stretches  of  grass  land  at 
intervals.  The  distance  from  Siboney,  which  had  become  the  base 
of  supplies,  was  not  more  than  five  miles,  and  General  Wheeler,  in 
command  of  the  cavalry  division,  and  General  Lawton,  commanding 
the  Second  Infantry  division,  decided  to  make  this  point  their  head 
quarters  for  the  present.  On  the  following  day  Colonel  Wood  was 
placed  in  command  of  a  brigade,  and  Roosevelt's  Rough  Riders  from 
that  time  on  were  Roosevelt's  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 

With  the  cavalry  at  Sevilla,  General  Shafter  maintained  his  head 
quarters  at  Playa  del  Este.  One  reason  for  this  was  that  the  cable 
station  was  located  at  this  point.  The  Commanding  General  also 


SH AFTER  IS  TAKEN  ILL  3^3 

felt  that  he  wanted  to  be  near  the  coast  until  the  very  last  of  the 
troops  and  munitions  of  war  had  been  disembarked.  When  the 
Spaniards  had  been  driven  out  of  Guasimas,  and  it  became  evident 
that  their  firmest  stand  would  be  made  near  Santiago,  Shafter  trans 
ferred  his  headquarters  to  La  Redonda,  about  six  miles  from  Siboney, 
and  only  a  little  way  from  Sevilla.  Generals  Kent,  Lawson,  and 
Chaffee  were  also  in  that  immediate  neighborhood,  so  that  Sevilla,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  location  of  the  entire 
army  immediately  after  the  exploit  of  the  Rough  Riders  and  other 
cavalry  along  the  Guasimas  trail 

The  encampment  was  continued  at  this  point  for  three  or  four 
days,  and  it  became  a  common  remark  of  field  and  company  officers 
that  any  enemy  with  a  small  degree  of  enterprise  could  have  attacked 
the  invaders  and  done  them  great  damage,  if,  indeed,  the  entire  force 
could  not  have  been  routed  and  driven  back  in  confusion.  The  camps 
were  in  a  jumbled  condition,  supplies  were  irregular,  and  the  men 
soon  became  pretty  well  disgusted  with  what  seemed  to  them  to  be 
an  interminable  delay. 

Meanwhile  news  was  constantly  being  brought  to  General  Shafter 
that  the  Spaniards  were  improving  their  position,  particularly  in  the 
vicinity  of  El  Caney  and  along  the  San  Juan  hills.  They  had  evi 
dently  been  indifferent  to  the  easy  prey  that  the  invading  army  might 
have  been,  merely  because  they  had  already  seen  something  of  the 
valor  of  the  American  troops,  and  had  chosen  the  battleground  on 
which  they  preferred  that  the  bulk  of  the  fighting  should  take  place. 

The  natural  conformation  of  the  country  could  hardly  have  been 
more  favorable  to  a  defensive  campaign.  The  Wilderness  in  Virginia 
presented  far  less  difficulties  to  the  invading  Northerners  than  did 
the  San  Juan  valley  to  Shafter's  army.  The  greater  part  was  cov 
ered  with  young  undergrowth,  interlaced  with  thorny  vines,  and  the 
roads  were  little  more  than  blind  trails. 

SHAFTER    IS    TAKEN    ILL. 

General  Shafter  was  taken  ill  while  the  army  was  at  Sevilla,  and 
his  condition  was  made  worse  by  the  extreme  heat.  He  kept  in  touch 
with  what  was  going  on,  however,  but  for  several  days  the  duty  of 
personal  observation  had  to  be  delegated  to  others.  He  and  all  his 


3  84  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

officers  saw,  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  fight  at  Guasimas,  that 
an  early  advance  must  be  made  upon  El  Caney.  The  subsequent 
capture  of  this  point  and  the  really  brilliant  engagement  at  San  Juan 
constitute  one  event,  and  it  has  always  been  so  regarded  by  all  the 
general  officers  who  took  part  in  the  fighting. 

The  reinforcements  that  General  Pando  was  known  to  be  offer 
ing  to  the  beleaguered  garrison  at  Santiago  would  have  found  their 
easiest  approach  through  El  Caney,  and  it  was  decided,  therefore,  to 
put  this  possibility  out  of  the  way  as  soon  as  circumstances  would 
permit.  The  Spaniards  had  apparently  expected  that  the  army  would 
reach  Santiago  by  detour  along  the  coast,  but  Shafter  evidently  had 
his  own  reasons  for  sending  his  men  directly  across  the  country. 

Progression  and  protection  of  the  American  position  was  ren 
dered  imperative  by  the  problem  of  feeding  the  men  who  had  pene 
trated  into  the  enemy's  country.  The  roads  were  impassable.  The 
dry  weather  had  given  place  to  tropical  rains.  Every  pathway  had 
become  a  sunken  road.  There  seemed  to  be  only  one  of  two  things 
for  the  invaders  to  clo — they  must  either  hold  the  ground  they  had 
gained  and  advance  therefrom,  or  some  of  the  troops  must  move 
westward  along  the  coast,  where  the  Spaniards  had  made  special 
preparations  to  receive  them,  and  try  to  capture  some  little  port,  thus 
shortening  up  the  line  of  supplies  between  the  fleet  and  the  troops. 
The  forward  movement  was  decided  upon.  Moreover,  the  officers  all 
felt  that  July  4th  was  approaching,  and  everybody  wanted  to  cele 
brate  that  day  by  some  great  event. 

A    COUNCIL    OF    WAR. 

On  June  2Qth  a  council  of  war  was  held.  Every  man  who  took 
part  in  it  had  learned  a  great  deal  regarding  the  use  of  rapid-fire  guns 
and  smokeless  powder.  Older  officers,  who  had  served  in  the  Civil 
War,  saw  that  the  rapid-fire  guns  of  to-day,  where  smokeless  powder 
is  used,  give  to  each  man  the  value  of  five  men  during  the  Rebellion. 
More  than  that,  with  the  accuracy  of  aim  now  possible,  a  good  marks 
man  can  kill  ten  men  with  such  a  gun  where  he  could  only  kill  one 
thirty  years  ago.  The  new  arms,  with  their  low  range  and  rapid  fire, 
had  wholly  altered  the  manoeuvres  that  must  immediately  precede  and 
occur  during  the  battles  of  the  future.  The  play,  therefore,  was  to 


FIERCE  FIGHTING  BEFORE  EL  CANEY  385 

be  for  a  flank  attack,  and  that  was  the  plan  decided  upon  at  this  con 
ference  in  front  of  Santiago. 

Generals  Young  and  Chaffee  favored  clearing  the  right  flank 
first,  and  not  exposing  both  of  our  flanks  to  the  scientifically  posted 
Spanish  infantry.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  take  El  Caney  by 
assault  early  on  the  morning  of  July  ist,  and  let  the  other  two  di 
visions  conform  to  the  movement  that  was  to  be  made  by  Lawton,  who 
was  to  deliver  the  swinging,  jugular-vein  blow.  General  Lawton 
wanted  to  go  out  that  very  night  and  get  into  position  to  deliver  his 
blow,  but  every  commander  was  as  zealous  as  he  was,  and  the  result 
was  that  this  disposition  was  not  made.  The  plan  was  further  devel 
oped  during  the  final  day  of  June,  and  on  the  following  night  bivouac 
was  made  at  10  o'clock,  and  the  men  slept  on  their  arms. 

Before  daylight  General  Chaffee  had  worked  his  men  forward 
so  that  he  might  approach  El  Caney  from  the  east  of  north. 
He  got  his  men  well  entrenched,  personally  supervising  every  detail. 
It  was  subsequently  discovered  that  the  Spaniards  also  well  under 
stood  the  trick  of  digging  good  trenches.  Their  rifle-pits  consisted 
of  a  deep,  narrow  hole  in  which  a  marksman  could  crouch,  making 
the  earth  itself  his  guardian  angel,  and  when,  at  the  first  sight  of 
dawn,  Chaffee  ordered  the  advance,  and  line  after  line  of  rifle-pits 
was  encountered,  there  was  an  occasional  hesitation,  not  inspired  by 
fear,  but  by  indecision. 

The  fighting  was  stubborn  from  the  very  outset.  Resistance 
was  determined,  and  the  patience  of  the  two  divisions  on  the  left, 
already  under  fire  from  the  San  Juan  forts,  was  sorely  tried.  Their 
commander  sent  over  to  know  if  the  movement  of  Chaffee  could  not 
be  hurried  or  abandoned,  so  that  they  could  go  into  action  against 
the  enemy  in  front  of  them,  but  Chaffee  was  too  far  committed  to 
consider  the  proposition  of  withdrawing.  The  effect  of  this  message, 
however,  was  to  redouble  the  energy  of  the  men  before  El  Caney, 
and  many  acts  of  individual  courage  were  performed  that  day. 

Captain  Capron,  father  of  the  young  man  who  had  been  killed 
with  the  Rough  Riders  along  the  Guasimas  trail,  concentrated  the 
fire  of  his  battery  upon  the  blockhouses  by  getting  two  of  them  in 
line.  So  accurate  was  the  aim  of  his  battery  that  he  knocked  whole 
corners  out  of  these  stone  structures.  His  guns  were  so  placed  tha 


21 


386  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

after  the  shells  went  through  one  blockhouse  they  would  land  and 
explode  in  the  next  one,  rending  it  apart  like  a  box  of  pasteboard. 

While  this  sort  of  thing  was  going  on,  Adjutant-General  Gilmore 
had  ridden  over  from  the  San  Juan  way  with  the  information  that 
the  fight  had  its  heart  in  front  of  the  forts  at  that  point,  and  that 
reinforcements  must  be  hurried  there  to  insure  success.  General 
Lawton  turned  to  the  officer  who  brought  this  news  and  said  :  "  There 
is  important  business  to  be  done  here,  and  I  can't  quit."  A  hurried 
consultation  was  held,  however,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  village 
must  be  taken.  It  was  done  in  thirty  minutes  by  a  splendid  assault 
led  by  Captain  Haskell,  of  the  Twelfth  Infantry.  Those  who  saw 
this  gallant  officer  lead  the  charge  up  that  hill  will  never  forget  it. 
He  rushed  along  at  the  head  of  his  men  with  his  long,  white  beard 
flying  in  the  air  and  surrounding  his  face  like  a  patch  of  fog.  His 
men  followed  him  without  question,  and  one  blockhouse  was  carried 
almost  before  the  Spaniards  knew  that  the  enemy  was  upon  them. 

A   TERRIBLE    FIGHT    IN    A    BLOCKHOUSE. 

This  blockhouse  stood  at  the  top  of  a  hill,  facing  the  pathway, 
leading  up  to  it  and  into  the  town.  Intrenchments  were  all  around 
it,  and  no  one  knew  how  many  soldiers  of  Spain  were  in  and  behind 
these  fortifications.  There  were  about  fifty  inside  the  blockhouse, 
shooting  through  the  holes.  A  company  of  the  Ninth  Infantry 
reached  this  point  first,  and  twenty  of  them  climbed  up  to  the  roof 
and  dropped  inside.  A  terrific  fight  took  place  in  these  close  quarters. 
The  first  Americans  who  entered  were  awfully  slaughtered  by  the 
Spaniards.  Some  of  them  were  badly  mutilated.  Fifteen  others  of 
the  Ninth  regulars  also  mounted  the  walls  of  the  blockhouse  and 
jumped  down  into  this  pit  of  death.  The  sight  of  their  outraged 
comrades  galled  them.  It  took  only  a  moment  for  vengeance  to  be 
wrought.  One  man  was  shot  in  the  wrist,  but  he  killed  the  Spaniard 
who  shot  him  and  brought  away  the  pistol  that  the  Don  had  used. 
One  American  is  known  to  have  killed  four  Spaniards  in  this  hand- 
to-hand  encounter.  One  of  the  regulars  had  a  piece  of  his  nose  shot 
off.  Turning  on  the  Spaniard  who  had  maimed  him  he  ran  him 
through  with  his  bayonet,  pinned  him  to  the  wall  and  held  him  there 
until  he  died. 


FOREIGN  REPRESENTATIVES  SURPRISED  387 

Meanwhile  others  of  the  Americans  were  doing  desperate  work 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  blockhouses.  The  rush  that  had 
been  made  seemed  to  take  away  the  breath  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the 
shower  of  leaden  hail  which  was  fired  upon  them  created  awful  havoc. 
When  our  men  got  into  the  Spanish  ditches  they  found  some  of  them 
three  to  five  feet  deep  with  dead  Spaniards,  but  no  wounded  were 
found,  these  evidently  having  been  taken  along  with  the  retreating 
force.  The  Spaniards,  however,  made  a  desperate  resistance  at  many 
points.  Their  firing  was  much  more  accurate  than  many  have  been 
led  to  suppose,  Their  artillery  was  well  placed  and  did  a  great  deal 
of  damage,  but  it  was  the  intrepidity  of  the  Americans  that  staggered 
them.  The  fact  that  their  advantage  with  smokeless  powder  did  not 
deter  the  onslaught,  seemed  to  be  more  than  they  could  understand. 

WHAT    FOREIGN    REPRESENTATIVES    SAID    OF    THE    FIGHT. 

The  assault  and  capture  of  El  Caney  took  the  breath  of  the 
foreign  attaches  who  were  watching  the  manoeuvres.  One  said  :  c<  It 
is  very  gallant,  but  very  foolish."  "  It  is  slaughter  ;  absolute  slaugh 
ter,"  said  another,  "  they  never  can  take  it,  you  know."  The  little 
Japanese  attache  merely  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  said  nothing. 
But  they  all  watched  the  assault  with  eagerness,  and  when  it  was 
crowned  with  victory  they  could  hardly  believe  their  own  eyes. 

The  Rough  Riders'  dynamite  gun,  handled  by  Alsop  Borrowe, 
did  good  execution  against  the  fortifications  at  El  Caney.  This  was 
the  first  opportunity  afforded  for  work  with  this  weapon,  and  every 
one  was  well  pleased  with  what  it  accomplished.  It  was  located  in  a 
position  that  was  guarded  by  several  troops  of  the  Rough  Riders,  who 
were  particularly  anxious  to  have  more  active  work  to  do  than  they 
seemed  likely  to  get  in  this  connection.  Later  in  the  day,  however, 
Colonel  Roosevelt  made  good  use  of  his  opportunities,  but  it  was  in 
the  second  day's  fighting  that  the  regiment  again  distinguished  itself. 

The  lack  of  more  artillery  was  very  disheartening.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  marvelous  prowess  of  the  infantry,  the  Spaniards  would 
not  have  been  driven  out  of  El  Caney.  The  slightest  faltering  on 
the  part  of  the  Americans  would  have  resulted  in  their  having  been 
hurled  back  further  than  their  starting  point.  It  was  their  continuous 
forward  movement  that  won  the  day. 


388  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

The  first  wounded  man  to  reach  headquarters  was  a  private  of 
the  Second  Massachusetts,  who  had  two  fingers  shot  away.  His 
battalion  had  been  within  200  yards  of  the  enemy  when  the  Spaniards 
opened  fire.  He  spoke  particularly  of  the  disadvantage  he  and  his 
comrades  had  had  in  not  being  able  to  see  where  the  shots  came 
from.  They  felt  like  rats  in  a  trap  at  first,  but  they  soon  learned  the 
Spanish  tactics  of  fighting  under  cover.  This  wounded  man  com 
plained  bitterly  that  his  regiment  had  not  been  allowed  to  light  fires 
for  twenty-four  hours,  and  had  started  into  battle  with  only  ten  pieces 
of  hardtack  and  a  piece  of  bacon  an  inch  wide. 

THE    WORK    OF    THE    SHARPSHOOTERS. 

During  the  progress  of  the  fight,  the  Eighth  Infantry  was  under 
a  heavy  fire,  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  big  mango  tree.  Some  of  the 
men  were  under  the  tree,  and  the  fruit  fell  on  them  in  showers, 
knocked  down  by  the  bullets.  The  greatest  annoyance  experienced  by 
all  the  troops  was  from  the  sharpshooters  who  were  posted  with  their 
smokeless  powder  pieces  in  the  surrounding  trees.  It  was  impossible 
to  get  at  these  fellows  until  their  companions  had  been  driven  from 
the  rifle-pits.  Then  one  of  these  roosting  birds  would  occasionally 
drop  down  to  join  in  the  flight,  and  the  chances  were  very  much 
against  his  getting  away  alive. 

It  had  been  thought  before  this  fight  began  that  El  Caney  could 
be  captured  in  very  short  order.  The  first  blockhouse  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Americans  within  half  an  hour  after  its  fierce  assault 
was  undertaken,  but  the  day  was  well  spent  before  all  the  trendies 
were  cleaned  out,  and  the  enemy  was  entirely  driven  back.  It  had 
been  a  day  of  bravery,  and  a  day  of  slaughter  on  both  sides,  though 
the  exact  loss  could  not  be  reckoned  until  the  following  day's  work 
was  complete.  The  United  States  troops  had  stuck  their  finger 
nails  into  the  crest  of  the  bluff  and  stayed  there.  They  were  vic 
torious  as  far  as  they  had  gone,  but  there  was  much  more  to  be 
accomplished.  Westward  from  El  Caney,  on  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
were  the  forts  of  San  Juan.  These  constituted  the  outer  stronghold 
of  Santiago,  and  these  must  be  captured  at  once. 

Officers  and  men  all  knew  that  this  was  the  work  cut  out  for 
them  on  the  2d  of  July.  There  was  very  little  sleep  that  night,  but 


WHY  ROOSEVELT  KEPT  AHEAD  389 

a  great  deal  of  work  was  done  in  perfecting  the  intrenchments  and 
getting  ready  for  the  morrow.  The  morning  broke  clear  and  beauti 
ful.  The  men  could  be  seen  on  the  crest  of  the  hill,  in  the  holes 
they  had  dug  in  the  ground  during  the  night,  and  the  entire  army 
was  eager  to  go  to  their  support.  The  enemy  was  evidently  quite 
as  wide  awake  and  anxiously  awaiting  the  attack. 

San  Juan  hill  is  a  long  and  steep  irregular  ridge.  It  is  of  unequal 
height,  and  the  highest  point  was  crowned  by  an  old  building  which 
had  been  converted  into  a  fort  with  trenches  in  front  of  it,  and  the 
ordinary  broken-stone  construction  of  the  Spanish  blockhouse.  In 
front  of  the  blockhouse  the  hill  was  at  least  a  hundred  feet  higher 
than  the  plateau  before  it.  The  ascent  was  at  an  angle  of  fully  forty- 
five  degrees.  The  face  of  the  hill  was  stony  and  thorny,  and  on  the 
margin  of  the  plateau  was  a  wilderness  of  trees  and  thick  brush 
through  which  the  American  soldiers  had  to  fight  their  way,  and 
when  they  had  penetrated  this  thicket  they  were  out  in  the  open 
fully  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  fort  and  those  who  were  in  the 
intrenchments  at  the  top  of  the  hill. 

WHY    ROOSEVELT    KEPT    AHEAD. 

The  original  order  had  been  not  to  advance  beyond  the  San 
Juan  River,  which  flowed  sluggishly  through  the  thicket,  but  the  fire 
in  this  brushwood  was  too  effective  to  engender  patience,  and  as  each 
regiment  came  to  the  stream,  which  really  was  not  much  of  an  impedi 
ment  to  progress,  they  rushed  over  it  and  up  on  the  hill  without 
waiting  for  further  orders.  It  was  at  this  point  where  Colonel 
Roosevelt  dismounted  and  led  his  Rough  Riders  up  the  slope.  Af 
terward,  when  complimented  on  the  good  time  he  had  made  at  the 
head  of  his  command,  he  smiled  and  said  :  4<  I  had  to  move  quick  to 
keep  out  of  their  way."  The  men  of  several  commands  got  separated 
in  this  advance,  and  it  was  this  fact,  particularly  in  the  case  of  the 
Seventy-first  New  York,  which  led  to  contradictory  reports  as  to 
obedience  of  orders  and  manifestations  of  indifference.  Those  who 
neared  the  top  of  the  hill  first  saw  that  they  could  do  nothing,  unsup 
ported,  against  the  enemy,  and,  as  they  looked  around  in  their 
anxiety,  each  on-coming  command  was  warmly  welcomed,  and  thus 
each  moment  it  grew  warmer  for  the  Spaniards. 


390  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

On  this  hillside  also  the  barbed  wire  fence  played  no  unimportant 
part.  Several  companies  of  the  Sixth  Infantry  ran  plump  against 
one  of  these  obstructions  halfway  up  the  hill.  Captain  Burns  saw 
a  big  Cuban  fighting  with  a  machete  a  little  way  off  and  called  to  him 
in  Spanish  to  cut  the  wires.  He  did  so,  and  the  men  rushed  through 
and  onward.  The  hill  was  so  steep  at  that  point  that  the  men  had  to 
drag  themselves  up  by  catching  at  roots  and  bushes,  stopping  every 
other  second  to  kill  a  Spaniard  or  two,  and  some  of  them  stopping  to 
be  killed. 

Several  of  the  cavalry  regiments  became  seriously  mixed  up 
owing  to  the  utter  impossibility  of  moving  straightforward  at  any 
thing  like  regular  intervals.  Captain  Morton  commanded  a  battalion 
of  the  Third  Cavalry.  When  he  finally  approached  the  open  space 
across  which  the  clash  was  made  for  the  right  of  the  San  Juan  posi 
tion,  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  men  of  two  or  three  different 
regiments,  mostly,  however,  of  his  own.  He  did  not  hesitate.  There 
was  no  time  for  hesitation.  Mauser  bullets  and  shrapnel  were  sing 
ing  thick  and  fast  through  the  air,  and  men  were  falling  on  every 
side.  Morton  simply  put  all  the  men  near  him  into  line,  led  them 
forward  and  quickly  took  the  most  advanced  position  on  the  right, 
driving  the  Spaniards  back  upon  a  battery  of  theirs  down  under  the 
walls  of  San  Juan  barracks. 

SKILL    OF    SPANISH    ENGINEERS. 

The  artificial  strengthening  of  the  Spanish  line  of  defense  showed 
the  very  highest  order  of  engineering  skill.  The  utmost  advantage 
was  taken  of  the  conformation  of  the  ground.  Each  fortified  point 
or  angle  commanded  some  other  one.  In  many  places,  on  gaining 
certain  intrenchments,  the  American  troops  found  themselves  under 
a  crossfire  from  other  portions  of  the  original  line.  The  result  was 
that  the  Americans  seemed  sometimes  to  be  almost  surrounded,  and 
it  was  like  fighting  their  way  out  of  a  hollow  square  when  any  ad 
vance  was  made. 

It  was  under  these  conditions  that  all  the  regiments,  engaged  in 
that  day's  fighting,  did  so  nobly.  The  rush  of  the  Ninth  and  Tenth 
cavalrymen  was  noted  by  the  commanders  of  many  other  regiments, 
and  those  colored  regulars  became  heroes  from  that  hour.  The 


PERSONAL  IMPRESSIONS  OF  OFFICERS  39 1 

regulars  naturally  gained  the  most  of  the  glory,  for  they  were  in  a 
large  majority,  but  the  commanding  officers  have  accorded  a  full 
meed  of  praise  to  all  concerned. 

General  Kent,  commanding  the  first  division  of  the  Fifth  Army 
Corps,  gave  special  credit  to  Brigadier-General  H.  S.  Hawkins,  who, 
placing  himself  between  the  two  regiments  leading  his  brigade,  the 
Sixth  and  Sixteenth  Infantry,  urged  and  led  them  by  voice  and  bugle 
calls  to  the  attack  so  successfully  accomplished. 

The  total  number  of  killed  on  July  ist  in  the  First  Division  was 
89,  the  wounded  nearly  500.  On  July  2d,  9  were  killed  and  94 
wounded.  The  total  for  the  three  days'  fighting,  from  the  morning 
of  the  attack  upon  El  Caney  until  the  truce  on  the  afternoon  of  July 
3cl,  was  12  officers  and  87  men  killed,  36  officers  and  561  men 
wounded,  and  62  unaccounted  for.  General  Lawton  lost  410  men, 
the  cavalry  lost  285  men,  and  the  grand  total,  as  given  by  General 
Shafter  in  his  official  report,  was  1,593  men,  killed,  wounded  and 
missing. 

PERSONAL    IMPRESSIONS    OF    OFFICERS. 

The  large  proportion  of  officers  killed  in  these  engagements  has 
been  attributed  by  many  to  the  fact  that  this  was  a  junior  officers' 
campaign.  General  Wheeler  was  unable  to  be  in  the  field  on  July 
ist  and  2d.  Generals  Kent,  Lawton  and  Chaffee  were  active,  of 
course,  but  General  Shafter  was  practically  confined  at  headquarters, 
and  the  bulk  of  the  work  fell  upon  the  juniors.  These  were  mowed 
down  with  the  men  under  their  command,  and  have  taken,  with  them, 
their  place  among  the  heroes  who  swept  away  the  obstructions  to  the 
approaches  to  Santiago  and  made  the  subsequent  surrender  of  the 
city  a  certainty. 

The  personal  impressions  of  some  of  the  officers  who  were 
engaged  against  the  Spaniards  on  these  earliest  days  of  July  tell  the 
story  at  first  hand.  Lieutenant  Joseph  A.  Carr,  of  the  Rough  Riders, 
speaking  of  the  fight  at  San  Juan  Hill,  has  said  :  "  We  were  not  sup 
ported  by  artillery,  and  it  was  a  test  of  what  American  nerve  and 
determination  could  do.  Most  of  my  men  were  shot  down  from  am 
bush.  I  was  left  in  command  of  what  remained.  After  we  had 
driven  the  Spanish  back  and  taken  possession  of  San  Juan  hill,  I 
was  sent  to  occupy  another  eminence  about  500  yards  away.  The 


392  THE  INVASION  OF  CUBA  BY  THE  ARMY 

Spanish  fire  never  ceased.  We  had  no  earthworks  and  no  artillery. 
I  saw  no  flinching.  No  man  seemed  to  think  of  retiring,  but  every 
nerve  was  strained  to  its  utmost,  and  our  boys  made  a  display  of 
courage  and  coolness  that  I  cannot  help  feeling  is  somehow  a  part  of 
American  blood." 

Captain  Hunter  said :  "  It  occurred  to  me,  as  we  were  going  up 
San  Juan  Hill,  that  just  twenty-five  years  before,  to  the  very  day  and 
hour,  Grimes'  battery  had  opened  the  battle  at  Gettysburg.  This 
coincidence  was  no  unpleasant  thought.  I  knew  we  had  a  hot  day's 
work  ahead,  but  I  also  knew  that  we  were  bound  to  win.  As  the 
battle  proceeded  our  loss  was  heavy  indeed,  but  when  we  saw  the 
terrible  execution  our  own  men  were  doing  we  began  to  feel  more 
than  satisfied.  When  the  artillery  firing  began  the  very  first  shell 
fired  by  the  enemy  killed  one  man  and  seriously  wounded  two  others 
under  my  very  eyes,  but  they  paid  for  this  a  hundred  times  over 
before  the  day  was  done." 

The  large  number  of  killed  and  wounded  in  the  engagements 
which  took  place  before  Santiago  was  very  galling  to  the  commanders, 
and  even  more  so  perhaps  to  the  authorities  at  Washington.  General 
Shafter  has  been  criticized  in  this  connection  for  allowing  the  fighting 
to  proceed  without  the  aid  of  the  siege  guns,  and  without  the  artil 
lery  to  support  the  infantry,  but  it  is  claimed,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  there  was  a  certain  amount  of  work  to  do,  and  that  it  had  to  be 
done  at  once,  and  that  the  loss  of  so  many  men,  deplorable  as  it  was, 
could  not  have  been  prevented  under  the  circumstances. 

The  sacrifice  of  these  lives,  however,  occurred  in  the  midst  of 
onslaughts  that  powerfully  impressed  the  Spaniards  as  to  the  mettle 
of  Uncle  Sam's  soldiers.  There  was  no  longer  any  thought  in  the 
minds  of  the  enemy  that  they  had  to  deal  with  novices  in  war,  or  that 
they  would  have  no  difficulty  in  driving  the  invaders  into  the  sea. 
Quite  the  contrary.  The  news  was  carried  into  Santiago  that  the 
American  army  could,  and  probably  would,  sweep  everything  before 
it,  and  it  was  this  sort  of  tidings,  emphasized  by  the  accumulating 
assurances  of  the  next  few  days,  that  paved  the  way  for  the  subse 
quent  surrender. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

The  Surrender  of  Santiago 

Truce  Proclaimed  and  Prolonged  from  Day  to  Day. — Consultation  for  Surrender  of 
Santiago — General  Miles,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  Joins  Shafter  and 
Takes  part  in  the  Negotiations. — General  Toral  Surrenders. — Terms  of  Evacua 
tion. — Raising  the  Stars  and  Stripes  above  the  City. — Hobson  and  His  Fellow- 
Heroes  Exchanged. — A  Rousing  Reception  by  Land  and  Sea. 

££fF  you  do  not  surrender  the  city  I  will  bombard  it."  That,  in 
effect,  was  the  ultimatum  which  General  Shafter  sent  the 
Spanish  commander  in  Santiago  on  the  3d  of  July.  General 
Linares  had  been  wounded.  General  Toral  was  in  command.  He 
refused  to  surrender.  With  this  refusal  came  to  General  Shafter  an 
appeal  from  foreign  residents  in  the  town  for  an  opportunity  to  get 
out  of  the  city  before  the  bombardment  began.  The  representatives 
of  foreign  nations  came  out  to  have  a  consultation  with  General 
Shafter,  and  the  result  was  that  notice  was  given  that  the  bombard 
ment  would  not  take  place  until  noon  of  July  5th. 

General  Toral  was  urged  to  aid  the  rapid  departure  of  foreign 
ers  and  non-combatants,  and  notices  were  posted  in  the  streets  of  the 
city  advising  all  women,  children  and  non-combatants,  that,  between 
5  and  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  July  5th,  they  might  pass  out  of 
any  gate  of  the  city.  Everybody  must  go  on  foot.  There  could  be 
no  carriages.  Stretchers  would  be  provided  for  the  ill  and  infirm. 
A  great  company  of  pilgrims  took  advantage  of  this  opportunity, 
and  there  was  a  continuous  line  of  refugees  pouring  out  of  the  threat 
ened  city  between  the  hours  that  had  been  named,  and  nearly  400 
persons  were  carried  out  on  litters. 

All  this  took  place,  of  course,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  while  the 
flag  was  still  flying  a  communication  was  received  from  General  Toral 
requesting  that  the  truce  be  still  further  extended.  He  wanted  to 
communicate  again  with  the  Spanish  Government  at  Madrid  con 
cerning  the  surrender  of  the  city,  but  all  the  telegraph  operators, 

393 


394  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

being  Englishmen,  had  gone  out  with  the  refugees.  General  Shatter 
extended  the  truce  until  4  o'clock  on  Sunday,  July  loth,  and  the  oper 
ators  returned  to  work  the  wires  for  the  Spanish  commander.  During 
all  this  time  the  refugees  continued  to  throng  the  roads  to  Siboney  and 
El  Caney  until  there  were  nearly  20,000  of  them  congregated  at  these 
two  points.  Meanwhile  the  Spanish  soldiers  were  helping  themselves 
to  everything  that  had  been  left  behind  by  the  families  who  had  de 
parted,  and  no  effort  seems  to  have  been  made  on  the  part  of  the 
Spanish  commanders  to  stop  the  looting. 

GENERAL    MILES    ARRIVES    ON    THE    SCENE. 

General  Miles  arrived  upon  the  scene  on  the  day  set  for  the  ex 
piration  of  the  truce.  The  first  of  the  two  expeditions  containing 
reinforcements  landed  on  July  8th,  the  second  on  the  Qth,  and  an 
other  on  the  loth,  so  that  Shatter's  army  had  been  strengthened  by 
6,000  men.  General  Toral  knew  of  the  arrival  of  General  Miles,  and 
with  this  knowledge  came  the  impression,  strongly  urged  on  the  part 
of  the  American  emissaries,  that  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
Spanish  commander  could  only  result  in  a  useless  loss  of  life. 

The  answer  of  the  Spanish  commander  was  that  his  home  gov 
ernment  had  not  yet  given  him  permission  to  surrender  the  city,  and 
that,  if  the  Americans  could  not  wait  any  longer,  he  and  his  men  would 
die  fighting.  A  joint  bombardment  by  the  army  and  navy  therefore 
was  promptly  begun. 

The  response  of  the  Spanish  guns  to  the  firing  of  the  Americans 
on  sea  and  shore  was  feeble.  When  the  Americans  fired  with  small 
arms  the  answer  was  more  vigorous,  but  Shafter's  lines  were  well 
protected  with  sandbags,  and  not  much  damage  was  done.  The  ves 
sels  of  the  fleet  kept  up  a  rain  of  shot  and  shell  on  the  water  forts 
and  the  approaches  to  the  city,  and  the  artillery  was  used  much  more 
than  smaller  arms  in  the  trenches. 

This  bombardment  continued  until  the  afternoon  of  the  second 
day.  Then  another  flag  of  truce  was  hoisted  over  the  city,  and  the 
general  impression  was  that  Toral  was  about  to  surrender,  but  he 
only  asked  for  more  time.  Generals  Miles  and  Shafter  held  a  con 
sultation.  Another  truce  was  consented  to,  and,  at  last,  on  July  i4th, 
General  Toral  agreed  to  surrender  the  city  on  condition  that  the 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  THE  SURRENDER  395 

Spanish  army  be  returned  to  Spain  at  the  expense  of  the  United 
States.  On  July  i6th,  the  agreement  of  surrender,  the  points  of  which 
had  been  communicated  by  cable  to  Washington  and  Madrid,  and 
had  been  approved,  was  signed  in  duplicate  by  the  commissioners  of 
both  sides. 

THE    CONDITIONS    OF    THE    SURRENDER. 

The  conditions  of  the  surrender  involved  the  following  points  : 
(i)  The  20,000  refugees  at  El  Caney  and  Siboney  to  be  sent  back  to 
Santiago,  (2)  An  American  infantry  patrol  to  be  posted  on  the 
roads  surrounding  the  city  and  in  the  country  between  it  and  the 
American  cavalry.  (3)  Our  hospital  corps  to  give  attention,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  the  sick  and  wounded  Spanish  soldiers  in  Santiago. 
(4)  All  the  Spanish  troops  in  the  province,  except  ten  thousand  men 
at  Holguin,  under  command  of  General  Luque,  to  come  into  the  city 
and  surrender.  (5)  The  guns  and  defenses  of  the  city  to  be  turned 
over  to  the  Americans  in  good  condition.  (6)  The  Americans  to 
have  full  use  of  the  Juragua  Railroad,  which  belongs  to  the  Spanish 
Government.  (7)  The  Spaniards  to  surrender  their  arms.  (8)  All 
the  Spaniards  to  be  conveyed  to  Spain  on  board  of  American  trans 
ports  with  the  least  possible  delay,  and  be  permitted  to  take  portable 
church  property  with  them. 

The  American  army  took  formal  possession  of  the  city  of  San 
tiago  on  the  morning  of  July  i7th.  General  Shafter  had  notified 
General  Toral  of  his  wish  in  this  regard,  and  no  obstacle  was  inter 
posed.  At  8.30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that  clay,  therefore,  Gen 
eral  Shafter,  accompanied  by  General  Miles,  General  Wheeler  and 
General  Lawton  approached  Santiago  on  foot,  walking  clown  the 
road  from  headquarters  in  a  leisurely  manner.  Under  a  great  mango 
tree,  just  outside  the  walls  of  the  city,  they  were  met  by  General 
Toral  in  full  uniform,  accompanied  by  nearly  200  officers.  The  com 
manding  generals  faced  each  other,  and  General  Toral,  speaking  in 
Spanish,  said  : 

"It  is  by  fate  that  I  am  forced  to  surrender  to  the  American 
army  the  city  of  Santiago." 

General  Shafter  replied  : 

" 1  receive  the  city  in  the  name  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States." 


396  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

This  was  all  of  the  simple  ceremony  which  transferred  the 
ancient  capital  of  Cuba  to  our  forces.  The  officers  of  the  Spanish 
General  wheeled  about  and  presented  arms  as  General  Shafter,  with 
the  American  officers  and  troops  that  had  been  chosen  for  the  occa 
sion,  passed  on  into  the  city  and  to  the  Governor's  palace. 

That  picturesque  building  is  in  the  centre  of  the  city  fronting 
the  Plaza,  at  the  other  end  of  which  stands  the  Cathedral.  The 
watching  soldiers  in  the  American  trenches  could  see  their  com 
manders  as  they  proceeded  in  the  direction  of  the  Plaza,  and  all 
along  the  lines  they  gave  voice  to  cheer  after  cheer. 

In  front  of  the  palace  about  3,000  persons  had  gathered  to  see 
what  was  going  to  take  place.  The  Civil  Governor,  the  Mayor  of  the 
city,  the  Chief  of  Police,  and  perhaps  two  score  of  the  minor  officials  of 
the  municipality  were  waiting  with  the  rest.  There  were  also  pres 
ent  some  of  the  English  and  French  residents  of  the  city.  Irrepressi 
ble  cheers  by  American  sympathizers  were  objected  to  by  some  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  one  or  two  fist-fights  occurred.  But  the  trouble  was 
juelled  almost  as  soon  as  it  began. 

After  the  Americans  had  arrived  at  the  palace,  the  Archbishop 
of  Santiago,  the  most  powerful  ecclesiastic  in  Cuba,  accompanied  by 
ten  priests,  came  forward,  gravely  saluted  General  Shafter,  and 
entered  into  conversation  with  him,  the  Archbishop  speaking  excel 
lent  English. 

Preceding  the  formal  ceremony  of  handing  over  the  city  to  the 
Americans,  luncheon  was  served  at  the  palace.  The  only  Cuban 
present  at  any  of  the  ceremonies  was  General  Joaquin  Castillo  and 
one  of  his  aides,  who  were  the  personal  guests  of  General  Shafter. 

RAISING    THE    FLAG    OVER    SANTIAGO. 

Just  before  noon,  Lieutenant  Miley,  General  Shafter's  chief  of 
staff,  disappeared  from  the  crowd  at  luncheon,  and  shortly  afterward 
every  one  went  out  on  the  plaza  in  front  of  the  palace,  where  Ameri 
can  cavalry  and  infantry  were  drawn  up.  General  Shafter  and  the 
other  Americans,  followed  by  the  Spanish  military  officers  and  offi 
cials,  took  up  a  position  in  front  of  the  soldiers.  Lieutenant  Miley 
appeared  on  the  top  of  the  palace,  accompanied  by  two  other 
officers. 


RAISING  THE  FLAG  OVER  SANTIAGO  397 

Every  eye  was  riveted  upon  them  as  they  stood  silhouetted 
against  the  sky.  Every  voice  was  hushed  expectantly,  and  then,  as 
the  great  bell  of  the  tower  of  the  Cathedral  gave  the  first  stroke  of 
12,  Lieutenant  Miley  ran  the  Stars  and  Stripes  up  to  the  top  of  the 
staff  which  had  before  known  only  the  emblem  of  Spain.  Its  folds 
spread  to  the  southwest  breeze,  and  as  it  fluttered  there,  all  hats  were 
removed,  and  Americans  and  Spanish  officials  alike  stood  bare  before 
the  fla^  of  the  victor. 

o 

As  the  last  stroke  of  the  hour  tolled  out,  the  military  band  played 
the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  following  it  up  with  "  Three  Cheers  for 
the  Red,  White  and  Blue."  Again  and  again  the  soldiers  cheered, 
and  so  did  more  than  half  of  the  people.  The  crowd  was  composed 
largely  of  men  and  women  of  a  half-starved  appearance,  most  of 
whom  seemed  to  be  grateful  that  the  Americans  were  in  possession 
of  the  city,  evidently  anticipating  that  their  days  of  hunger  and 
misery  were  over.  One  enthusiastic  Cuban  started  the  cry,  "Viva  los 
Americanos ! "  and  hundreds  of  his  compatriots  joined  in  the  acclaim. 

As  the  American  flag  floated  over  the  city,  one  of  the  batteries 
of  artillery  at  the  right  centre  of  the  American  line  fired  a  national 
salute.    As  the  guns  thundered,  our  20,000  men,  from  the  Third  Regi 
ment  on  the  left  of  the  line,  to  the  Eighth  Regiment  far  off  on  the 
El  Cobre  road  on  the  west,  yelled,  cheered,  shouted,  threw  their  hat? 
in   the   air,  and  jumped  up  and  down.     The   soldiers  stood  on  thv 
crests  of  the  trenches,  which   they  had  won  at  the  cost  of  so  many 
lives,  and,  though  they  could  not  be  seen  from  the  city,  their  cheen 
were  easily  caught  by  the  ear,  and  it  was  thus  made  plainly  evident 
how  completely  Santiago  and  the  Spanish  army  had  been  hemmed  in. 

After  cheering  the  flag  on  the  palace,  the  soldiers  in  the  city 
cheered  for  General  Shafter  and  for  the  army  as  a  whole.  General 
Shafter  and  his  officers  then  left  for  the  American  camp,  and  soldiers 
were  assigned  to  patrol  duty  in  the  city. 

The  navy  also  had  its  share  in  the  ceremonies  of  surrender. 
Admiral  Sampson  had  received  requests  from  every  small  vessel  in 
the  fleet  for  permission  to  enter  the  harbor,  but  the  danger  from  sub 
marine  mines  was  not  yet  well  defined,  and  nothing  but  launches  were 
allowed  to  enter.  Three  of  these  felt  their  way  into  the  harbor,  pass 
ing  the  wreck  of  the  Rcina  Mercedes  and  the  Merrimac,  with  only  her 


398  777^  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

topmasts  above  the  water,  and  so  on  up  the  bay,  at  the  head  of  which 
the  surrendered  city  lay.  They  arrived  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  final 
cheering.  They  found  the  army  already  in  possession  of  everything. 

The  only  war  vessel  in  the  harbor  was  the  small  gunboat  Alvarez, 
which  mounts  a  modern  4-inch  gun  forward  and  a  machine  gun  aft. 
The  Spaniards  requested  that  the  American  flag  be  not  raised  on  her 
until  all  her  crew  had  left  her.  This  request  was  granted.  The  Span 
iards  took  the  boat  up  to  the  dock  and  all  disembarked.  Lieutenant 
Marble  then  ran  up  a  new  American  flag  on  the  vessel,  and  a  ship  of 
war  was  added  to  our  navy.  The  Lieutenant  also  took  possession  of 
all  the  other  vessels  in  the  harbor.  One  of  them  was  a  big  steamer 
that  had  been  used  as  a  transport ;  the  others  were  two  tugs,  four 
lighters,  twelve  schooners,  and  a  number  of  small  boats.  The  Ameri 
can  flag  was  raised  on  all  of  them. 

Lieutenant  Marble  boarded  the  gunboat  which  had  been  cap 
tured  and  returned  on  her  to  the  fleet.  He  had  with  him  two  Spanish 
officers  who  knew  all  about  the  mines  in  the  harbor.  On  the  way 
down  the  bay  he  told  them  of  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet  at 
Manila.  They  said  that  the  Spanish  official  reports  declared  that 
Admiral  Montijo  had  won  a  glorious  victory  at  Manila,  and  that,  if 
the  soldiers  in  Santiago  had  known  of  the  Spanish  defeat  in  the 
Philippines,  they  would  not  have  been  so  willing  to  fight  the 
Americans. 

Before  the  gunboat  reached  the  sea,  the  men  on  the  vessels  of 
Sampson's  fleet  saw  American  infantrymen  and  cavalry  at  Morro  Cas 
tle  and  on  the  side  batteries.  They  knew  then  that  the  surrender  was 
complete,  and  the  sailors  added  their  full  quota  of  cheering  to  the 
shouts  that  had  been  sent  up  by  the  soldiers.  Some  of  the  vessels 
moved  up  close  under  the  castle,  and  then  they  saw  for  the  first  time 
the  awful  havoc  their  guns  had  wrought. 

The  Morro  was  literally  a  pile  of  ruins — at  least  on  the  side  next 
the  sea.  The  rock  on  which  it  had  been  built  had  crumbled  to  dust 
wherever  shot  and  shell  had  struck  ;  there  was  a  dozen  holes  in  the 
lighthouse,  and  the  building  around  the  semaphore  had  been  com 
pletely  destroyed.  All  but  two  of  six  guns  that  had  been  mounted 
on  a  battery  to  the  east  of  the  castle  were  wrecked.  This  battery 
was  protected  by  barrels  of  sand,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  reason 


HAVOC  WROUGHT  BY  OUR  GUNS  399 

the  Spaniards  had  shot  too  high  in  answering  the  American  fire  was 
that  some  of  the  sand  barrels  in  front  of  the  guns  were  so  high  that  it 
was  necessary  to  greatly  elevate  the  guns  in  order  to  shoot  over 
them.  Several  of  the  guns  were  dismounted,  the  earth  was  badly 
torn  up,  and  the  sand  bags  were  ripped  open  in  many  places. 

Inside  the  harbor  entrance  some  tremendous  holes  were  seen 
that  had  evidently  been  made  by  the  coughdrops  administered  by  the 
Vesuvius  on  Dr.  Dynamite's  prescription.  The  first  close  inspection 
of  the  wrecks  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor  revealed  the  fact  that  the 
Reina  Mercedes  did  not  block  the  channel.  Further  examination 
showed  two  twelve-inch  holes  in  her  side,  plainly  establishing  the  fact 
that  she  was  sunk  by  one  of  our  ships,  and  not  by  the  Spaniards 
themselves.  The  Spanish  officers  volunteered  to  help  remove  or 
explode  the  mines  in  the  harbor.  Four  had  been  exploded  against 
the  Merrimac,  but  there  were  yet  half  a  dozen  that  were  dangerous. 
There  were  also  several  contact  mines  at  the  right  of  the  Merrimac, 
going  in.  Those  on  the  left  of  the  Merrimac,  the  Spanish  officers 
said,  had  been  removed  to  let  Admiral  Cervera's  fleet  out.  Half  a 
dozen  launches  from  the  warships  went  about  with  the  Spanish  offi 
cers,  and  eventually  the  mines  were  made  harmless. 

An  incident  of  the  surrender  was  the  raising  of  a  Cuban  flag  on 
the  western  end  of  the  fortifications  known  as  water  batteries.  This 
was  discovered  on  board  the  New  York,  and  orders  were  sent  to 
haul  it  down.  It  was  an  American  victory  on  land  and  sea,  and  Old 
Glory  was  the  only  flag  to  float. 

Meanwhile  the  soldiers  left  on  duty  in  Santiago  had  restored 
comparative  order.  Immediately  upon  hoisting  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  over  the  Governor's  palace  the  refugees  began  to  crowd  back 
into  the  city,  and  the  Spanish  soldiers  began  to  leave.  They  did  not 
pretend  to  go  in  any  sort  of  marching  order,  and  as  they  reached  the 
rifle-pits  they  stacked  arms  and  went  into  camp.  They  spent  the 
time  in  good-natured  chaffing  with  the  men  they  had  been  seeking  to 
destroy,  and  ate  greedily  of  the  hard-tack  that  was  given  them. 
General  Linares  and  General  Toral  were  not  in  the  city  when  our 
flag  was  hoisted.  They  remained  in  houses  outside  of  the  town,  and 
they  remained  there  until  a  transport  was  read}'  for  them  to  go  on 
board. 


400  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

The  formal  surrender  of  Santiago  and  its  possession  by  the 
army  of  the  United  States  was  announced  to  the  Government  at 
Washington  by  General  Shafter,  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  announce  that  the  American  flag  has  been 
this  instant,  12  noon,  hoisted  over  the  house  of  the  civil  government 
in  the  city  of  Santiago.  An  immense  concourse  of  people  was 
present,  a  squadron  of  cavalry  and  a  regiment  of  infantry  presenting 
arms,  and  a  band  playing  national  airs.  A  light  battery  fired  a  salute 
of  twenty-one  guns.  Perfect  order  is  being  maintained  by  the 
municipal  government.  The  distress  is  very  great,  but  there  is  little 
sickness  in  town  and  scarcely  any  yellow  fever. 

"  Battalions  of  Spanish  troops  have  been  depositing  arms  since 
daylight  in  the  armory  over  which  I  have  a  guard.  About  7,000 
rifles,  60,000  cartridges,  and  many  fine  modern  guns  were  given  up. 

"  This  important  victory  with  its  substantial  fruits  of  conquest 
was  won  at  a  loss  of  1,593  men  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  Law- 
ton,  who  had  the  severe  fighting  around  El  Caney,  lost  410  men; 
Kent  lost  859  men  in  the  still  more  severe  assault  on  San  Juan  and 
the  other  conflicts  of  the  centre  ;  the  cavalry  lost  285  men,  many  of 
whom  fell  at  El  Caney.  The  feint  of  Aguadores  cost  37  men.  One 
man  of  the  signal  corps  was  killed  and  one  wounded.  Trying  as  it  is 
to  bear  the  casualties  of  the  fight,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  a 
military  sense  success  was  not  dearly  won.' 

In  forwarding  to  the  War  Department  at  Washington  a  copy  of 
the  agreement  between  the  American  and  Spanish  commissioners  for 
the  surrender  of  Santiago,  General  Shafter  stated  that  the  men,  sur 
rendered  by  Toral,  numbered  between  22,000  and  23,000,  about  6,000 
more  than  the  Americans  themselves.  The  following  is  his  report  of 
the  situation  as  he  found  it  after  the  surrender  : 

5  The  city  of  Santiago  is  simply  a  network  of  fortifications  at 
every  street  corner.  I  had  no  proper  conception  of  its  strength  until 
I  went  into  it,  although  I  knew  those  old  stone  towns  were  naturally 
very  strong.  Everything  is  going  admirably,  so  far  as  the  transfer  is 
concerned,  and  the  Spanish  troops  are  behaving  well.  They  seem 
perfectly  delighted  with  the  idea  of  returning  to  Spain. 

"  I  send  you  a  copy  of  a  telegram  of  General  Linares  to  his 
Government,  which  one  of  the  Consuls  gave  me.  It  shows  the  straits 


GENERAL  SH AFTER  SENDS  THE  NEWS  401 

in  which  the  Spaniards  were  and  the  feeling  that  animated  them.  He 
stated  the  case  exactly.  I  did  have  him  so  surrounded  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  get  away,  and  I  could  wait,  and  he  could  not. 

"  To-morrow  morning  I  shall  send  out  to  receive  something  over 
2,000  men  about  thirty  miles  in  the  interior,  and  in  two  or  three  days 
we  shall  send  to  Guantanamo  to  receive  the  7,000  who  have  surren 
dered  there.  There  are  also  about  800  men  each  at  Baracoa  and 
Sagua  de  Tanamo,  on  the  north  coast,  to  whom  I  will  send  an  officer 
with  a  Spanish  guide  to  take  their  arms  and  military  supplies. 

"  We  have  secured  a  great  deal  more  than  I  had  any  idea  of  get 
ting  in  the  way  of  munitions  of  war.  In  everything  except  food  the 
Spaniards  were  well  supplied.  My  only  fear  is  that  we  shall  have 
some  sickness,  and  it  is  for  that  reason  that  I  have  wired  so  earnestly 
about  getting  the  prisoners  away  so  that  we  can  go  up  into  the  moun 
tains  with  our  soldiers,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  at  the  end  of  the  rail 
road,  at  San  Luis,  which  is  said  to  be  very  healthy.  It  is  at  any  rate 
about  1,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  has  communication  by  rail  with 
Santiago. 

"  Of  those  here  who  served  throughout  the  Civil  War,  all  declare 
they  never  had  anything  that  could  compare  with  it  for  hardship. 
With  only  one  set  of  clothes,  officers  have  been,  until  now,  rained  on 
nearly  every  clay,  carrying  three  days  rations,  like  the  men,  on  their 
persons,  and  suffering  every  privation  in  addition  to  all  the  horrors 
of  disease  in  an  unknown  land,  and  very  limited  accomodations  in 
case  of  sickness  or  injury.  The  spirit  shown  by  the  whole  army  has 
been  simply  grand." 

The  following  schedule  of  ordnance  surrendered  at  Santiago  was 
officially  reported  to  the  department  at  Washington  : 

Rifles. — Spanish  Mausers,  16,902  ;  Argent,  872  ;  Remington, 
6,118. 

Carbines. — Mausers,  833  ;  Argent,  84  ;  Remington,  330  ; 
Revolvers,  75. 

Ammunition  for  small  arms. — Mauser  rifles,  1,500,000  cartridges  ; 
Argent  rifles,  1,471,200  cartridges;  Remington  rifles,  1,660,000 
cartridges. 

The  worthless  small  arm  ammunition  amounts  to  973,000 
cartridges. 

22 


402  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

Forty-four  smooth-bore  siege  guns  and  5  mortars  were  also  cap 
tured,  besides  30  bronze,  10  cast-iron  and  8  steel  guns,  all  rifled. 

Projectiles  captured. — Solid  shot  spherical  3,55 1 ;  shells  spherical, 
678  ;  shells  cylindrical,  1,879  ;  shrapnel,  437. 

GENERAL    LINARES*    PITIFUL    STORY. 

The  cablegram  of  General  Linares  to  the  Government  at  Madrid, 
referred  to  by  General  Shafter  as  having  disclosed  the  true  state  of 
affairs  at  Santiago,  before  the  surrender  was  written  by  the  Spanish 
Commander  while  confined  to  his  house  by  reason  of  wounds  received 
in  battle.  It  was  sent  to  Madrid  by  way  of  Havana,  and  is  there 
fore  presumed  to  have  had  the  endorsement  of  General  Blanco. 
It  certainly  set  forth  the  situation  in  a  deplorable  light,  and  those 
who  afterward  entered  the  city  agreed  with  General  Shafter  that  it 
presented  actual  facts.  The  dispatch  in  full  is  as  follows  : 

To  the  Minister  of  War  ;— 

"  Although  prostrated  in  bed  by  excessive  weakness  and  sharp 
pains,  I  am  preoccupied  to  such  an  extent  by  the  terrible  condition 
of  these  long-suffering  troops  that  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  address 
your  Excellency  the  Minister  of  War  in  order  to  expose  the  true 
condition  of  affairs. 

"  The  enemy's  position  is  very  strong,  and  his  outposts  are  very 
close  to  the  limits  of  this  city.  The  natural  formation  of  the  sur 
rounding  country  gives  our  besiegers  great  advantages.  Our  lines 
extend  fourteen  kilometers. 

"  Our  troops  are  attenuated  and  the  proportion  of  sick  is  con 
siderable,  but  they  are  not  allowed  to  go  to  a  hospital,  owing  to  the 
necessity  of  keeping  them  in  the  trenches.  Our  horses  have  no  grain 
or  forage.  Under  a  veritable  deluge  we  remained  for  twenty  hours 
at  a  stretch  in  the  trenches  and  breastworks,  soaked  to  the  marrow, 
with  no  earthly  shelter  or  protection  possible  for  the  unfortunate 
soldiers,  who  eat  nothing  but  rice,  and  cannot  even  change  or  dry 
their  clothes. 

*  The  great  losses  among  our  officers — either  dead,  wounded, 
sick  or  disappeared — deprive  our  men  of  the  neccessary  direction  and 
command  at  critical  moments. 


GENERAL  LINARES'  PITIFUL  STORY  403 

"  Under  such  conditions  it  would  be  impossible  to  attempt  to 
break  through  the  enemy's  ranks,  as  one-third  of  our  men  are  too 
feeble  to  walk,  and  would  have  to  be  left  behind,  while  the  rest  would 
be  decimated  and  routed  by  the  superior  forces  of  the  enemy.  The 
result  of  such  an  attempt  would  be  a  wholesale  slaughter  and  disaster. 
The  attempt  would  utterly  fail  in  the  object  desired  by  your  Excel 
lency,  which  is  the  salvation  of  these  eleven  thinned  and  impover 
ished  battalions. 

"  In  order  to  attempt  a  sortie  under  the  protection  of  the  Hol- 
guin  division,  it  is  in  the  first  place  necessary  for  those  forces  to 
break  through  the  enemy's  ranks  and  reinforce  ours  before  we  could 
move.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Holguin  forces  would  have  ahead  of 
them  eight  days  of  forced  marches,  and  would  have  to  bring  a  great 
quantity  of  commissary  supplies  and  rations,  which  it  would  be  im 
possible  for  them  to  do.  Altogether  the  gravity  of  the  situation  is 
appalling.  The  surrender  of  the  town  is  inevitable ;  a  prolonged 
resistance  would  simply  mean  a  protraction  of  our  death  agony.  The 
sacrifice  would  be  sterile  and  fruitless. 

"  The  enemy  appreciates  our  position  perfectly,  and,  with  our 
lines  circumvented  and  walled  in  as  securely  as  they  are,  he  is  able  to 
drain  and  wipe  out  our  forces  without  exposing  his  own,  as  he  did 
yesterday,  cannonading  us  with  vertical  fire,  while  we  could  not  see 
or  make  out  his  batteries.  Moreover,  his  navy  has  our  range  down 
to  so  fine  a  point  that  his  ships  can  bombard  the  town  by  sections 
with  mathematical  precision. 

"Santiago  de  Cuba  is  not  Gerona,  which  was  defended  inch  by 
inch  to  the  last  drop  of  blood  by  women  and  children,  by  the  old  and 
by  the  feeble,  all  moved  by  the  sacred  spirit  of  independence,  and 
animated  and  encouraged  by  the  hope  and  promise  of  relief,  which 
they  did  actually  receive. 

"  Here  solitude  alone  reigns.  The  total  population,  native  as 
well  as  Spanish,  has  left  the  city.  Not  only  have  private  individuals 
abandoned  it,  but  public  officials  and  Government  employes  as  well. 
The  clergy  alone  remain  within  our  wall,  and  they,  too,  are  preparing 
to  flee  to-morrow,  with  their  prelate  at  their  head. 

"  Our  troops  are  not  starting  to-day,  fresh  and  vigorous,  full  of 
energy  and  enthusiasm,  on  a  campaign  ;  they  are  men  who  have 


404  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

struggled  three  long  years  against  climatic  perils,  fatigue,  hardships, 
disease,  and  hunger,  and  who  to-day,  when  called  to  face  these  trying 
and  critical  conditions,  are  wasted  away  in  body  and  soul,  with  no 
earthly  means  or  possibility  of  relief. 

"  They  are  fighting  without  spirit  or  nerves.  They  have  no 
sacred  fire,  no  ideal  to  defend,  for  the  very  property  they  are  called 
upon  to  defend  and  protect  has  been  abandoned  before  their  eyes  by 
its  veritable  owners,  many  of  whom  are  allied  to  the  American 
forces,  strengthening  those  ranks  against  ourselves. 

"  The  honors  of  arms  and  of  war  have  limits,  and  I  appeal  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Government  and  of  the  whole  nation  as  to 
whether  these  troops  have  not  given  repeated  illustrations  of  cour 
age,  valor,  and  devotion,  and  whether  they  are  to  be  further  sacrificed 
for  a  lost  cause. 

"  If,  for  reasons  of  which  I  am  ignorant,  their  sacrifice  is 
demanded,  or  if  some  person  is  required  who  will  assume  the  respon 
sibility  for  the  inglorious  end  predicted  in  my  former  despatches,  I 
offer  myself  loyally  on  the  altar  of  my  country,  to  assume  command 
and  responsibility  in  either  case,  and  I  will,  if  necessary,  be  alone 
answerable  for  the  surrender  of  this  place,  as  my  modest  reputation 
is  of  small  value  compared  with  the  national  welfare. 

LINARES." 

THE  SURRENDER  MUST  HAVE  COME. 

The  entry  into  Santiago,  and  the  discovery  of  the  exact  situation, 
as  so  pathetically  described  in  General  Linares'  dispatch,  was  a  source 
of  great  gratification  to  the  army.  Every  one  was  convinced  that, 
if  General  Toral  had  not  voluntarily  relinquished  the  defense  of  the 
city,  he  would  have  lost  it  by  force  of  arms  within  forty-eight  hours 
of  fighting,  and  that  too,  without  a  great  loss  to  the  Americans.  The 
position  of  the  besiegers  had  been  constantly  improved.  The  invest 
ment  of  the  city  had  daily  been  growing  more  and  more  complete. 
Not  only  had  the  lines  been  stretched  further  and  further  around,  but 
they  had  been  advanced  and  set  in  better  places.  The  artillery  had  been 
put  in  most  effective  stations,  so  that,  if  firing  had  begun  again,  awful 
damage  would  have  been  inflicted.  Many  of  the  Spanish  lines  had  been 
enfiladed,  so  that  they  could  have  been  swept  clear  in  a  short  time. 


ON  THE  VERGE  OF  STARVATION  405 

The  enemy  appears  to  have  known  all  this,  for  the  certainty  of  a  vast 
destruction  and  the  unavoidable  necessity  of  an  early  capitulation 
undoubtedly  led  Toral  to  yield  when  he  did. 

The  plight  among  the  Americans  who  were  sick  was  pitiable  in 
deed,  but  there  were  enough  well  men  to  have  taken  Santiago  with 
less  ado  than  many  may  have  thought  possible.  Sick  and  well  alike, 
profited  immediately  from  the  surrender.  A  day's  ration  for  some  of 
the  soldiers  consisted  of  five  or  six  pieces  of  hard-tack,  two  potatoes 
and  an  onion,  but  the  pack  trains  began  to  come  in  regularly  just 
before  the  surrender,  and  with  them  came  not  only  food  of  better 
variety  and  quality,  but  many  appliances  for  the  sick  and  wounded. 
Quantities  of  rations  were  distributed  among  the  refugees  every  day, 
at  least  until  they  began  to  pour  back  into  the  city,  and  everybody 
was  glad  indeed  when  the  tension  was  relaxed  and  the  matter  of 
supplies  could  be  systematized. 

ON    THE    VERGE    OF    STARVATION. 

A  Cuban  woman  from  El  Caney  staggered  into  the  camp  of  the 
Ninth  Cavalry  on  the  morning  of  the  surrender.  She  was  pale  and 
pinched,  and  the  ragged  silk  dress  that  half  covered  her  attenuated 
body  spoke  no  more  of  past  luxury  and  refinement  than  did  her 
features,  her  despair,  and  her  utter  exhaustion.  She  did  not  ask  for 
food.  She  wanted  work.  She  washed  clothes  from  the  hospital  tent 
for  half  a  day  in  return  for  food,  and  sat  down  to  the  welcome  army 
fare  with  hands  bleeding  from  the  unaccustomed  labor.  At  dusk  she 
turned  wearily  back  toward  El  Caney,  six  miles  away,  richer,  at  least,  by 
one  meal.  There  had  been  many  visits  paid  to  the  camps  by  Cuban 
soldiers,  but  none  of  them  were  as  willing  to  work  for  what  they  got 
as  this  poor  woman. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  surrender  of  Santiago,  the  relief  ship 
State  of  Texas  came  up  the  harbor  loaded  with  food  enough  to 
give  something  to  eat  to  every  one  within  the  city.  She  was  moored 
at  the  principal  wharf,  opened  her  ports,  and  began  to  issue  food  to 
the  people  who  thronged  to  her  side.  Questions  to  the  applicants 
were  unnecessary.  Their  emaciated  faces  and  eager  eyes  told  that 
they  were  desperately  hungry.  The  plight  of  the  children  was  par 
ticularly  pitiful.  The  skin  was  drawn  tight  over  their  pinched  faces. 


406  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

and  the  eyes  of  many  of  them  had  an  unnatural  lustre.  They 
stretched  forth  their  skinny  hands  timidly,  and  the  beseeching  look 
in  their  eyes  went  straight  to  the  heart  of  every  American.  The 
Spanish  soldiers  did  not  openly  beg  for  food,  but  when  questioned 
they  said  earnestly  that  they  were  hungry,  and  when  food  was  given 
to  them  they  devoured  it  ravenously. 

The  supplying  of  food  to  the  destitute  was  soon  reduced  to  a 
system,  and  the  policing  of  the  city  of  Santiago  was  rapily  placed 
upon  a  satisfactory  basis.  There  was  no  offensive  display  of  military 
force  by  the  American  soldiers,  and  the  occupation  of  the  city  was 
practically  accomplished  without  disturbance.  There  was  no  scarcity 
of  liquor  in  the  town,  but  it  was  not  sold  openly.  There  was  no 
clashing  between  the  forces  that  had  been  so  bitterly  opposed  to  each 
other,  and  thus  within  thirty  days  after  the  landing  of  Shafter's  army 
on  Cuban  soil,  the  entire  province,  as  well  as  the  city  of  Santiago, 
was  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  our  arms. 

THE    EXCHANGE    OF    LIEUTENANT    HOBSON. 

Among  the  incidents  preceding  the  raising  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  at  Santiago  was  the  exchange  of  Lieutenant  Hobson  and  the 
seamen  who  had  composed  the  crew  of  the  Merrimac  when  she  was 
sunk  in  the  harbor.  Hobson  and  his  men  were  held  as  prisoners  of 
war  by  the  Spaniards  until  the  6th  of  July ;  the  fleet  of  Cervera  had 
been  sunk,  the  battles  of  Guasimas,  El  Caney,  and  San  Juan  Hill  had 
been  fought,  and  these  brave  sailors  were  shut  away  from  the  active 
operations.  Several  efforts  had  been  made  to  secure  their  exchange, 
but  for  some  time  these  efforts  were  unavailing.  Admiral  Cervera 
had  taken  such  a  deep  interest  in  Hobson's  exploit  that  it  was  tacitly 
understood  that  he  had  become  personally  responsible  for  the  hero 
of  the  Merrimac,  and  there  was  no  doubt,  after  the  first  few  days, 
that  an  exchange  would  eventually  be  made. 

It  was  thought  at  first  that  the  Spanish  Government  would 
excuse  their  delay  in  consenting  to  an  exchange  on  the  ground  that 
Hobson  had  had  full  opportunity  during  his  detention  to  observe  the 
character  of  the  defences,  and  to  gather  other  military  information 
that  might  be  disastrous  to  the  Spanish,  if  disclosed  to  the  American 
naval  and  military  commanders.  Captain-General  Blanco,  in  Havana, 


THE  EXCHANGE  OF  LIEUTENANT  HOBSON  407 

authorized  a  statement  to  this  effect ,  but  the  point  was  made  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  that  this  reason  would,  of  course,  disap 
pear  upon  the  capture  of  Santiago,  and  when  Cervera's  fleet  had  been 
destroyed,  and  the  surrender  of  the  city  was  only  a  matter  of  time, 
it  was  easier  for  an  exchange  to  be  brought  about. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  July  the  Spanish  authorities  con 
sented  to  make  the  exchange,  and  a  truce  was  established  for  that 
purpose.  The  place  selected  for  the  exchange  was  under  a  tree 
between  the  Spanish  and  American  lines,  two-thirds  of  a  mile  beyond 
the  entrenchments  occupied  by  the  Rough  Riders,  near  General 
Wheeler's  headquarters.  The  America!!  prisoners  left  the  Reina 
Mercedes  Hospital,  on  the  outskirts  of  Santiago,  where  they  had 
been  confined  after  their  first  week  or  so  in  the  Morro,  just  before 
3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  charge  of  Major  Irles,  a  Spanish  staff 
officer,  who  spoke  English  perfectly.  The  prisoners  were  conducted 
to  the  meeting  place  on  foot,  but  were  not  blindfolded.  The  Spanish 
prisoners  to  be  exchanged  were  Lieutenants  Volez  and  Aurelius,  both 
of  the  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  Infantry,  who  had  been  captured  at 
El  Caney  on  the  preceding  Friday,  and  Lieutenant  Adolfo  Aries,  of 
the  First  Provisional  Regiment  of  Barcelona,  one  of  the  most  aristo 
cratic  organizations  of  the  Spanish  army.  There  were  also  fourteen 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates.  Lieutenant  Aries  and  a 
number  of  the  men  had  been  wounded  in  the  fight  at  El  Caney,  but 
none  of  them  seriously.  The  Spanish  prisoners  were  brought  through 
the  American  lines  mounted  and  blindfolded,  in  charge  of  Colonel 
John  Jacob  Astor  and  Lieutenant  Miley,  accompanied  by  Interpreter 
Maestro. 

The  meeting  between  Colonel  Astor  and  Major  Irles  was 
extremely  courteous  and  extremely  formal.  No  attempt  was  made  by 
either  of  them  to  discuss  anything  but  the  matter  in  hand.  To  Major 
Irles  was  given  a  choice  of  one  of  the  three  Spanish  lieutenants  in 
exchange  for  Hobson  ;  and  he  was  also  informed  that  he  could  have 
all  of  the  fourteen  men  in  exchange  for  the  American  sailors.  Lieu 
tenant  Aries  was  selected,  and  the  other  two  Spanish  officers  were 
conducted  back  to  Juragua. 

The  exchange  took  place  at  4  o'clock.  Just  as  the  two  parties 
were  separating,  Major  Irles  turned  and  said,  courteously  enough,  but 


408  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

in  a  tone  which  gave  his  hearers  the  impression  that  he  desired  hos 
tilities  to  be  renewed  at  once  : 

"  Our  understanding  is,  gentlemen,  that  this  truce  comes  to  an 
end  at  5  o'clock." 

Colonel  Astor  looked  at  his  watch,  bowed  to  the  Spanish  officer, 
without  making  any  reply,  and  then  slowly  started  back  to  the  Ameri 
can  lines,  with  Hobson  and  his  companions. 

WILD    WELCOME    FROM    AMERICAN    TROOPS, 

The  meeting  of  the  two  parties  and  the  exchange  of  prisoners 
had  taken  place  in  full  view  of  both  the  American  and  Spanish  sol 
diers  who  were  entrenched  near  the  meeting  place,  and  the  keenest 
interest  was  manifested  in  the  episode.  As  Hobson  and  the  men  of 
the  Merrimac  approached  the  first  line  of  entrenchments,  which  hap 
pened  to  be  occupied  by  the  Rough  Riders,  low  murmurs  ran  from 
one  end  of  the  line  of  cowboys  and  athletes  to  the  other,  and  by  the 
time  the  party  reached  them  every  man  was  on  his  feet  cheering 
wildly  and  rushing  over  every  obstacle  that  chanced  to  be  in  the  way,  in 
the  effort  to  reach  Hobson  and  his  party  and  grasp  them  by  the  hand. 

The  released  prisoners  were  soon  surrounded.  They  were  com 
pelled  to  stop  and  receive  the  greetings,  congratulations  and  heart 
felt  handshakings  of  men  they  had  never  seen  before.  Sunburned 
cavalrymen  who  had  spent  their  lives  on  the  plains,  and  who  did  not 
know  the  difference  between  a  ship's  maintop,  bilge  or  keel,  threw 
their  arms  around  the  sailor  boys  and  literally  dragged  them  over  the 
entrenchments,  all  the  time  sending  out  yells  that,  under  other  cir 
cumstances,  might  well  have  struck  terror  to  hearts  even  as  gallant  as 
the  heroes  of  the  Merrimac. 

In  the  entrenchments  next  to  the  Rough  Riders  were  the  Sev 
enty-first  New  York  Volunteers,  and  Hobson  and  his  men  now  had 
to  run  the. gauntlet  of  their  greeting.  Almost  immediately  afterward 
the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry,  both  colored  regiments,  joined  in  the 
general  enthusiasm,  and  cheer  after  cheer  arose  as  Hobson  and  his 
companions  forced  their  way  through  the  lines  of  white  and  colored 
soldiers. 

Hobson,  as  far  as  possible,  grasped  each  hand  extended  toward 
him,  and  neither  he  nor  his  men  made  any  protest  against  the  uncom- 


HOBSON  MEETS  GENERAL  SHAFTER          409 

fortable  crowding  and  jostling  which  they  had  to  undergo.  If  the 
young  officer,  whose  home  is  in  Alabama,  had  any  race  prejudice 
he  certainly  forgot  all  about  it  as  he  passed  through  the  lines  of 
soldiers. 

These  prisoners,  so  recently  set  free,  saw  only  the  uniforms  of 
the  United  States  army,  and  the  Southerner  who  had  distinguished 
himself  so  gallantly  cared  not  for  the  color  of  the  wearers  of  the  uni 
form.  He  grasped  the  hands  of  the  colored  cavalrymen  and  ex 
pressed  his  thanks  for  their  patriotic  welcome  with  as  much  hearti 
ness  as  he  displayed  toward  men  of  his  own  color.  He  and  all  of 
his  men  were  completely  overcome  by  the  reception  accorded  them, 
and  tears  rolled  down  their  cheeks  as  the  soldiers  crowded  around. 

When  the  crew  of  the  Merrimac  approached  Grimes'  Battery,  a 
great  cry  went  up  for  the  firing  of  a  salute  in  their  honor.  Hobson 
protested  against  this,  and  called  out  to  the  artillerymen,  who  had 
caught  the  infection,  not  to  fire  their  guns.  Some  of  the  more  en 
thusiastic  soldiers,  however,  appealed  to  Colonel  Astor,  and  he,  enter 
ing  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion,  told  the  men  they  need  not  obey 
Hobson's  orders,  as  he  was  "only  a  lieutenant  anyway/'  The  offi 
cers  of  the  battery,  however,  prevented  the  men  from  firing  the  guns 
for  fear  the  Spaniards  might  mistake  it  for  the  re-opening  of  the 
attack,  and  if  the  latter  had  responded  the  American  soldiers  were  in 
no  position,  in  their  state  of  disorder  and  enthusiasm,  to  repel  an 
assault. 

HOBSON  MEETS  GENERAL  SHAFTER. 

Hobson  first  paid  his  respects  to  General  Wheeler,  who  was 
nearest  at  hand,  after  which  he  started  for  General  Shafter's  head 
quarters,  still  accompanied  by  his  men.  Word  of  the  coming  of  the 
party  ran  along  ahead  of  them,  and  regiment  after  regiment  lined  up 
to  greet  and  hail  the  heroes.  On  the  way  to  Shafter's  position  they 
met  Captain  Chadwick,  of  the  New  York,  and  Lieutenant  Staunton, 
assistant  chief  of  staff,  who  had  been  conferring  with  General  Shafter, 
and  who  were  then  on  their  way  to  visit  the  firing  lines.  Warm 
greetings  were  exchanged  by  the  naval  officers,  and  Hobson  pressed 
forward.  After  a  short  visit  to  General  Shafter,  Hobson  rode  to 
Siboney,  off  which  place  the  New  York  was  lying.  Here  he  and  his 
men  were  greeted  with  another  tremendous  ovation. 


410  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

The  single  street  of  the  little  village  was  blocked  with  soldiers, 
Cuban  camp  followers  and  sailors  from  the  transports.  Cheer  after 
cheer  went  up  for  Hobson  and  his  sailors.  They  kept  up  a  continu 
ous  smiling,  bowing,  all  the  while  insisting  that  they  had  merely  done 
what  every  American  soldier  or  sailor  would  do  if  the  opportunity 
offered. 

Hobson's  reception  on  board  the  New  York  was  equally  enthusi 
astic  as  it  was  throughout  all  the  fleet.  He  had  very  little  to  say 
about  himself,  but  one  thing  he  did  say  was  that  from  his  place  of  con 
finement  in  the  hospital,  after  being  taken  from  Morro  Castle,  he  saw 
the  battle  of  the  preceding  Friday,  and,  as  he  looked  on  that  gallant 
charge  of  the  Rough  Riders  and  the  colored  troops  of  the  Tenth 
Cavalry  up  the  San  Juan  Ridge,  he  had  said  to  himself  that  none  but 
American  soldiers  could  have  won  such  a  victory. 

Lieutenant  Hobson  impressed  all  who  met  him  with  his  evidently 
sincere  desire  not  to  have  the  incident  of  the  sinking  of  the  Merrim  >c 
made  more  of  than  a  simple  performance  of  a  sailor's  duty.  He 
talked  in  a  straightforward  manner  about  the  incident,  and  did  not 
seem  to  think  that  he  and  his  men  had  been  in  any  great  danger  while 
confined  in  Morro. 

"In  Morro,"  said  Lieutenant  Hobson,  "we  were  confined  in  cells 
in  the  inner  side  of  the  fortress,  and  were  there  the  first  day  the  fleet 
bombarded  the  castle.  I  could  only  hear  the  whistling  of  the  shells 
and  the  noise  they  made  when  they  struck,  but  I  judged  from  the 
conversation  of  the  guards  that  the  shells  did  considerable  damage. 
After  this  bombardment  Mr.  Ramsden,  the  British  Consul,  protested, 
and  we  were  removed  to  the  hospital.  There  I  was  separated  from 
the  other  men  in  our  crew  and  could  see  them  only  by  special  per 
mission.  Montague  and  Kelly  fell  ill  from  malaria  two  weeks  after  we 
were  captured,  and  I  was  permitted  to  visit  them  twice.  Mr.  Rams- 
den  was  very  kind  to  us,  and  demanded  that  the  sick  men  be  removed 
to  better  quarters  in  the  hospital.  This  was  done.  As  for  myself 
there  is  little  to  say.  The  Spanish  were  not  disposed  to  do  much  for 
any  of  the  prisoners  at  first,  but,  after  our  army  had  taken  some  of 
their  men  as  prisoners,  our  treatment  was  better.  Food  was  scarce 
in  the  city,  and  I  was  told  that  we  fared  better  than  the  Spanish 
officers." 


THE  FIRST  TROOPS  IN  CUBA  411 

The  announcement  of  the  exchange  of  Lieutenant  Hobson  and 
his  men  was  officially  made  to  Washington  by  General  Shafter  as 
follows  : 

PLAY  A  DEL  ESTE,  July  6,  1898. 
HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  ARMY  CORPS. 
Secretary  of  War,  Washington  : — 

Lieutenant  Hobson  and  all  of  his  men  have  just  been  received 
safely  in  exchange  for  one  Spanish  officer  and  other  prisoners  taken  by 
United  States  All  in  good  health,  except  two  seamen  convalescing 
from  remittent  fever.  SHAFTER, 

Major-  General,  Commanding. 

THE    FIRST   TROOPS    IN    CUBA. 

The  engagements  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Santiago 
were  the  last  battles  that  took  place  on  Cuban  soil.  It  was  only  two 
months,  however,  before  this  that  the  first  landing  of  troops  had 
been  made.  A  portion  of  the  First  Regiment,  U.  S.  Infantry,  did 
the  fighting  in  the  original  instance,  and  the  vessel  on  which  they 
proceeded  from  Key  West  to  Cuba,  was  the  Gussie. 

The  commander  of  the  expedition  was  Colonel  J.  H.  Dorst, 
U.  S.  V.,  and  the  troops  accompanying  him  were  as  follows  : 

Company  E,  First  Infantry,  60  men  and  Captain  J.  J,  O'Connell 
and  Second  Lieutenant  W.  M.  Crofton  ;  Company  G,  First  Infantry, 
60  men  and  Captain  M.  P.  Phister,  First  Lieutenant  F.  E.  Lacey 
and  Second  Lieutenant  D  E.  Nolan.  The  object  of  the  expedition 
was  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  Cuban  troops  that  were  supposed  to 
be  in  the  western  part  of  the  island,  and  to  provide  for  the  landing  of 
stores  and  ammunition  for  the  insurgents. 

One  bright  May  morning,  the  Gussie  left  Key  West  and 
essayed  to  make  a  landing  on  the  north  coast  of  Cuba,  a  little  to  the 
east  of  Mariel.  The  Cubans  on  board,  who  were  to  be  put  on  shore 
at  the  first  opportunity,  to  act  as  scouts  and  guides  for  the  expedi- 
tion,made  an  inspection  of  the  lay  of  the  land  from  on  shipboard,  and 
decided  that  they  would  prefer  to  land  elsewhere.  The  whole 
country-side  seemed  to  know  of  the  coming  of  the  expedition. 
Whenever  the  Gussie  got  anywhere  near  the  shore,  a  Spanish 
soldier  would  take  a  shot  at  her,  but  without  effect,  and  as  the  vessel 


412  THE  SURRENDER  OF  SANTIAGO 

proceeded  on  down  the  coast,  squads  of  Spanish  cavalry  could  be 
seen  keeping  her  in  sight,  evidently  determined  to  prevent  the  carry 
ing  out  of  her  plans.  Off  Cabanas  a  drizzling  rain  began  to  fall 
which  soon  turned  into  a  regular  drenching  tropical  downpour.  After 
that,  nothing  more  was  seen  of  the  Spanish  cavalry,  and  the  com 
mander  of  the  Gussie  decided  to  land  his  scouts  at  Arbolitos  Point. 

FIERCE    FIRING    IN    THE    JUNGLE. 

Three  Cuban  scouts  went  off  first  in  a  light  skiff,  to  show  the 
way  over  the  reef,  but  their  boat  was  capsized,  and  they  had  to  swim 
and  wade  to  shore.  Two  boats  carrying  about  40  men  of  Company 
E,  commanded  by  Captain  O'Connell  and  Lieutenant  Crofton,  next 
started.  O'Connell's  boat  was  upset  on  the  reef  and  Lieutenant 
Crofton's  command  therefore,  was  the  first  to  land  upon  Cuban  soil. 
Captain  O'Connell  presently  reached  the  beach  about  300  yards  to 
the  right. 

Both  parties  went  ahead  in  skirmish  lines  and  dissappeared  from 
the  sight  of  those  on  board  the  Gussie  in  a  network  of  shrubbery. 
Two  minutes  later  the  silence  was  broken  by  heavy  volleys  of  mus 
ketry  followed  by  the  sharp  cracking  of  skirmish  firing.  It  was  hard 
to  tell  exactly  what  had  happened,  but  evidently  the  skirmishers  had 
stumbled  upon  Spaniards  in  the  jungle. 

The  advancing  Americans  had  clambered  over  a  line  of  Spanish 
rifle-pits,  unoccupied,  but  when  Captain  O'Connell  and  his  party 
finally  came  out  upon  a  grass-grown  road,  they  encountered  about  50 
Spanish  guerillas,  some  mounted  and  some  on  foot,  all  evidently 
pushing  on  with  the  greatest  haste  to  reach  the  rifle-pits. 

The  guerillas  were  the  first  to  fire.  One  bullet  found  lodge 
ment  in  the  arm  of  a  newspaperman,  but  all  the  rest  went  wild  of 
their  mark.  Our  men,  facing  about  and  firing  at  ease,  brought  down 
four  of  the  Spaniards.  The  exhibition  of  marksmanship  thoroughly 
demoralized  the  guerillas,  who  made  off  into  the  jungle,  firing  wildly 
as  they  retreated.  Private  Metzler,  of  Company  E,  brought  down 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  band,  who  proved  to  be  a  Lieutenant 
of  that  crack  corps,  the  Civil  Guard. 

Lieutenant  Crofton  and  his  command  now  came  up  from  the 
left  and  both  commands  gave  chase  to  the  fugitives.  The  gunboats 


FIRED  UPON  FROM  AMBUSH  413 

tore  the  jungle  and  the  chapparal  at  the  right  of  the  skirmishers  with 
shot  and  shell,  and  the  infantry  fired  half  a  dozen  volleys  in  the  same 
general  direction.  Now  and  again  a  shot  came  back  in  reply,  but  the 
Spaniards  were  more  fleet  of  foot  than  accurate  of  aim,  and  nothing 
more  was  seen  of  them. 

The  first  action  of  the  war  fought  on  Cuban  soil  between 
Spanish  and  American  troops  resulted  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
United  States.  The  enemy  had  lost  at  least  four  dead,  whose  bodies 
were  seen,  and  doubtless  more  were  killed  or  wounded  by  the  heavy 
firing  from  the  vessels.  Lieutenant  Crofton  brought  back  with  him 
to  the  Gussie,  as  prisoner  of  war,  a  charcoal  burner  who  had  given 
the  first  landing  party  misinformation,  and  who  was  thought  to  have 
been  a  decoy  in  the  pay  of  the  Spaniards. 

Another  incident  of  this  expedition  took  place  after  the  Cubans 
had  been  landed  who  were  to  make  the  connection  with  the  camp  of 
their  compatriots.  The  Gussie,  still  proceeding  along  the  coast, 
caught  sight  of  a  white  flag,  extended  to  the  breeze  from  a  tall  palm 
tree.  It  would  be  waved  for  a  minute  or  two  and  then  vanish,  but 
only  to  reappear,  some  moments  later,  a  few  hundred  yards  to  the 
westward. 

FIRED    UPON    FROM    AMBUSH. 

The  commander  of  the  Giissie,  and  many  others  on  board,  looked 
upon  this  as  a  signal  from  Cuban  friends  who  were  kindly  guiding 
the  expedition  toward  a  safe  place  for  further  landing,  but  suddenly, 
when  the  Giissie  had  been  lured  to  within  300  yards  of  the  beach,  the 
Spaniards  opened  fire  from  two  field  batteries  concealed  in  the  jungle 
of  shrubbery  and  vines.  In  this  instance,  as  usual,  the  Spaniards 
displayed  very  poor  marksmanship,  and  no  damage  was  done. 

Their  presence  and  their  readiness,  however,  convinced  those  in 
charge  of  the  expedition  that  the  stores  and  ammunitions  on  board 
the  Gussie  could  not  be  landed  with  any  assurance  of  their  escaping 
the  Spaniards.  The  land  had  been  approached  at  three  points  where 
meetings  with  the  insurgents  had  been  pre-arranged,  and  in  each 
case  the  Cubans  had  not  been  able  to  keep  their  engagement.  In 
view  of  the  Spanish  force  along  the  coast  it  would  have  been  poor 
policy  for  them  to  have  appeared,  so  the  Gussie  flew  to  the  breeze 
the  homeward  bound  pennant  and  sailed  back  to  Key  West. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Campaign  in  Porto  Rico 

General  Miles'  Plans  for  the  Invasion  of  the  Island. — Preliminary  Operations  by 
Sampson's  Fleet. — Bombardment  of  San  Juan  de  Porto  Rico. — Miles  in  Charge 
of  the  Army  Expedition. — Troops  Meet  with  but  Little  Resistance. — Spanish 
Officers  and  the  People  Cheer  the  American  Flag. — Capture  of  Towns,  and 
Movements  of  the  Army. — The  First  Steps  Toward  Peace,  in  Washington. — The 
French  Ambassador  Consults  our  President  and  Secretary  of  State  on  Behalf  of 
Spain. — As  the  Guns  of  Pennsylvania  Troops  were  being  Placed  in  Position  for  a 
Battle,  Word  Came  from  Washington,  Announcing  that  Fighting  Must  Cease.— 
The  Last  Scenes  and  Shots  of  the  War. 

WHEN   Santiago  surrendered,  the  attention  of  the  army  and 
navy  was  turned  toward  Porto  Rico.     The  power  of  the 
United  States  had  already  been  manifested  there,  through 
the  naval  arm  of  its  service,  by  the  bombardment  of  San  Juan,  the 
capital  of  the  island,  about  two  months  earlier. 

When  the  fleet  of  Cervera  was  known  to  be  at  sea  somewhere 
between  Spain  and  the  West  Indies,  it  had  been  thought  advisable 
to  make  sure  that  San  Juan  should  not  be  a  fit  stopping  place  for  the 
coming  Spanish  men-of-war ;  and,  moreover,  it  had  been  deemed  wise 
to  obtain  a  moral  effect  that  could  not  be  overlooked  by  letting  the 
world  in  general,  and  Spain  in  particular,  see  something  more  of  what 
Uncle  Sam's  gunners  could  do. 

At  midnight  of  May  3d  the  fighting  squadron  of  Admiral  Samp 
son  left  Key  West  eastward  bound.  The  Admiral  really  hoped  to 
meet  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Porto  Rico,  and,  by  destroying  it,  to  strike 
such  a  blow  to  Spain  as  would  force  her  to  sue  for  peace.  In  any 
event  the  other  objects  enumerated  were  to  be  accomplished,  so  there 
was  nothing  of  the  nature  of  an  experimental  excursion  about  the 
expedition. 

Sampson  had  with  him  the  New  York  as  his  flagship,  and  the 
battleships  Iowa  and  Indiana^  the  monitors  Amphitnte  and  Terror, 
the  cruisers  Montgomery  and  Ddroit,  and  the  torpedo  boat  Porter. 


4i 6  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

The  cruise  was  slow  from  the  start.  On  the  nth  the  fleet  crossed 
Mona  Passage.  At  5  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  Admiral  moved  his 
flag  to  the  Iowa,  issued  orders  for  the  disposition  of  the  vessels  of  the 
fleet,  and  waited  for  the  morning. 

In  the  dim  light  of  early  dawn,  the  Morro  (for  every  Spanish 
port  seems  to  have  a  castle  of  this  name)  loomed  up  like  a  gray  moun 
tain  of  stone  as  the  Iowa  steamed  slowly  across  the  channel  under 
its  guns.  The  sentinel  on  the  watchtower  could  be  heard  giving 
the  alarm  to  the  city  and  garrison.  General  quarters  had  been 
sounded  on  board  the  vessels  at  half-past  four,  and,  though  it  was  not 
yet  sunrise,  the  order  was  given  to  hoist  colors  as  the  vessels  were  in 
motion,  and,  just  as  the  Detroit  passed  the  point  of  Morro,  "  Old 
Glory  "  was  flaunted  in  the  face  of  the  enemy. 

THE    FIGHT    BEGINS. 

Almost  on  the  minute  of  5  o'clock  the  Iowa  fired  the  first  shot 
of  the  engagement.  Quick  as  a  flash  the  Dons  answered,  and  the 
fight  was  on.  With  the  Iowa  in  the  lead,  the  big  battleships  steamed 
slowly  by  and  delivered  their  broadsides.  It  was  a  sort  of  a  reveille 
that  the  Spaniards  were  not  used  to  being  awakened  by  ;  but  they 
were  not  slow  in  getting  into  action,  and  their  responses  to  the  guns 
of  the  Americans  were  a  long  way  from  feeble. 

The  line  of  the  big  battleships  was  just  fifty-five  minutes  in  pass 
ing,  and,  during  that  time,  the  Detroit  stood  still  and  allowed  herself 
to  be  used  as  a  target  for  the  guns  from  the  entire  range  of  forts.  It 
was  this  that  caused  Captain  Bob  Evans  to  remark  to  Admiral  Samp 
son  on  the  bridge  of  the  Iowa:  "The  Detroit  is  the  gamecock  of  the 
squadron."  As  the  Iowa  passed,  however,  the  Detroit  got  under  way 
and  slowly  moved  out,  and  presently  her  guns  were  doing  their  full 
share  in  the  bombardment. 

From  the  topmast  of  the  Iowa  streamed  in  brilliant  colored  flags, 
"  Remember  the  Maine."  Behind  her  came  the  huge  Indiana,  of 
such  enormous  bulk  that  she  rode  almost  steady  even  upon  that  heav 
ing  sea.  Then  followed  the  New  York,  almost  as  formidable  as  a 
battleship,  the  low-lying  monitors  Amphitrite  and  Terror,  with  the 
Montgomery  and  Porter  marking  the  limits  of  the  course  over  which 
this  line  of  seafighters  was  passing. 


MANEUVERING  DURING  THE  FIGHT  417 

First  the  starboard  broadsides  were  brought  to  bear.  One  of 
the  great  1 3-inch  guns  of  the  Iowa  belched  forth  flame,  and  a  shell 
sailed  high  toward  Morro.  It  fell  short,  but  the  response  was  a 
roar  from  all  the  batteries  and  forts  along  the  shore.  It  was  a 
tremendous  burst  of  sound  and  smoke  and  flame — a  shower  of  shells 
that  wasted  themselves  in  the  sea.  So  wild  was  the  volley  that  even  if 
the  Iowa  had  been  within  range,  none  of  the  shots  would  have  hit  her. 

Presently,  however,  all  the  vessels  drew  in  nearer  to  the  shore. 
Each  ship  was  now  firing,  and  each  shore  gun  was  answering.  The 
Spanish  aim  was  wild,  but  the  American  gunners  fired  with  the  calm 
ness  and  precision  of  experienced  target  practice.  The  fleet  and  the 
shore  were  soon  enveloped  in  smoke.  Only  outlines  could  be  made 
out ;  but  it  was  apparent  that,  while  the  Spanish  shells  issued  from 
the  smoke  of  the  shore  to  fall  into  the  sea,  the  American  shells  rushed 
from  the  fleet's  envelope  of  smoke  to  bury  themselves  in  the  smoke 
on  shore,  and,  now  and  then,  as  the  wind  drifted  the  thick  gray  cur 
tain  aside,  it  could  be  seen  that  the  American  ships  were  uninjured, 
and  that  on  shore  the  line  of  fortifications,  that  had  at  first  been 
unbroken,  was  torn  and  ruined  in  many  places. 

NO    GREAT    DAMAGE    DONE. 

When  the  Iowa  came  up  to  the  "stakeboat,"  she  turned  and  led 
the  column  back  again  across  the  line  of  fire,  and  the  above  scene 
was  thus,  repeated  again  and  again.  The  Spanish  shells  did  not  all 
go  wild,  though  none  of  them  did  any  great  damage.  One  shell 
struck  a  boat  on  the  Iowa,  passed  through  it  and  entered  the  super 
structure,  scattering  splinters  in  every  direction.  Three  men  were 
injured,  Admiral  Sampson  and  Captain  Evans  were  on  the  lower 
bridge,  and  narrowly  escaped  the  flying  fragments. 

In  all,  the  Iowa  was  hit  nine  times.  She  was  struck  once  by  a 
i4-centimeter  shell  at  a  distance  of  about  5,000  yards.  The  shell 
came  over  the  stern  of  the  ship,  broke  off  an  8-inch  iron  stanchion, 
demolished  a  wooden  boat  in  which  it  exploded  and  set  fire  to  the 
canvas  covering  and  the  splinters  that  had  been  made.  The  shell 
itself  burst  into  many  pieces.  One  fragment  went  downward  and 
struck  near  the  port  8-inch  waist  gun  where  12  men  were  stationed. 
One  man  was  killed  and  several  others  injured. 


4i 8  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

After  two  hours  of  this  sort  of  work  the  day  had  become  furi 
ously  hot,  so  hot  that  men  were  fainting  below  the  decks  and  at  the 
guns.  The  gunners  were  streaming  with  perspiration.  A  gunner's 
mate  on  the  Amphitrite  was  overcome,  and  died  in  a  few  hours.  But 
the  battle  went  on.  The  fire  from  the  ships  was  unabated.  Many 
of  the  Spanish  guns  were  silenced,  but  when  the  shore  batteries 
could  be  seen  it  was  evident  that  the  Spanish  gunners  were  becoming 
demoralized.  They  seemed  to  be  drunk  with  fury.  They  loaded 
and  fired  like  madmen,  without  aiming,  without  any  appearance  of 
discipline  or  direction,  and  seemed  to  be  in  such  a  crazed  condition 
that  they  performed  such  absurd  acts  as  waving  their  swords,  shaking 
their  fists  and  discharging  pistols  at  the  warships  that  were  pepper 
ing  them  from  far  out  in  the  harbor. 

o 

The  man  on  the  watchtower  of  the  Morro,  who  had  given  the 
alarm  to  the  city,  stood  at  his  post  through  the  whole  fight,  and  it 
was  said  on  board  the  vessels  that  his  bravery  was  so  much  admired 
that  no  one  made  any  special  effort  to  dislodge  him  from  the  eyrie  to 
which  his  duty  had  assigned  him.  He  marched  up  and  down  on  the 
parapet  through  all  the  three  hours  rain  of  shot  and  shell,  and  was 
still  there  when  the  fleet,  satisfied  that  the  defences  of  the  harbor  had 
been  badly  crippled,  and  knowing  that  the  city  had  been  set  on  fire 
by  the  bombardment,  ceased  firing  and  drew  away. 

Next  day,  at  St.  Thomas,  it  was  ascertained  that  San  Juan  had 
been  practically  destroyed.  Nothing  had  been  seen  of  Cervera's 
fleet  and  Admiral  Sampson  had  thought  best,  after  inflicting  the 
punishment  of  this  eventful  day,  to  leave  the  enemy  to  their  own 
devices  for  the  present.  No  further  operations  were  carried  on 
against  any  portion  of  Porto  Rico  until  two  months  later  when 
General  Miles  and  General  Brooke  invaded  the  island  at  another 
point. 

THE    EXPEDITION    TO    CONQUER    THE    ISLAND. 

The  operations  against  Porto  Rico,  following  the  destruction  of 
Cervera's  fleet  and  the  surrender  of  Santiago,  were  largely  prompted 
by  the  desire  of  the  United  States  not  to  enter  empty-handed 
into  a  peace  parley.  It  was  plainly  evident  to  the  authorities  at 
Washington  that  the  end  of  the  war  was  near  at  hand,  and  the  pos 
session  of  Porto  Rico  was  an  important  desideratum.  To  bring 


EXPEDITION  TO  CONQUER  THE  ISLAND  4*9 

about  this  possession  three  expeditions  were  sent.  The  first,  under 
General  Miles,  sailed  from  Guantanamo  Bay,  Cuba,  July  2ist;  the 
second,  which  was  part  of  General  Brooke's  command,  sailed  from 
Charleston  also  on  July  2ist,  with  General  Ernst  as  brigade  com 
mander,  and  the  third,  under  General  Brooke  himself,  embarked  at 
Newport  News,  on  July  26th. 

All  these  expeditions,  aggregating  about  11,000  men,  were  con 
voyed  by  warships  and  were  successfully  landed.  The  first,  under 
General  Miles,  reached  Guanicaat  daylight  on  July  25th.  A  Spanish 
force  attempted  to  resist  the  landing,  but  a  few  well-directed  shells 
from  the  Massachusetts,  Gloucester  and  Columbia  soon  put  the  enemy 
to  flight.  The  Gloucester  (formerly  J.  Pierpont  Morgan's  yacht 
Corsair^),  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Commander  Wainwright,  was 
then  headed  into  the  port  with  orders  to  send  a  party  on  shore. 

The  harbor  of  Guanica  is  a  veritable  haven  of  rest,  with  high 
mountains  for  a  background,  a  bay  of  considerable  extent,  a  plateau 
of  cultivated  meadow  land  stretching  from  the  beach  to  the  mountains, 
a  score  or  so  of  prettily  painted  houses  on  the  line  of  the  shore,  a 
sugar  mill  on  the  right,  a  blockhouse  distant  a  couple  of  miles  on  the 
left,  and,  directly  in  front  of  the  place,  a  smaller  blockhouse,  before 
which  floated  the  Spanish  flag. 

The  Gloucester  made  direct  for  this  flagstaff.  When  she  came 
to  a  stop,  thirty  men,  under  Lieutenant  Huse,  were  sent  ashore  in  the 
launch.  The  Spaniards  began  to  fire  upon  them.  The  Americans 
replied  with  their  rifles  and  machine  guns,  and  several  shots  were 
also  fired  from  the  vessels  in  the  harbor.  This  served  to  scatter  the 
Spaniards  from  the  vicinity  of  the  flagstaff,  around  which  the  Ameri 
can  sailors  soon  rallied,  pulled  clown  the  red  and  yellow  flag  of  Spain, 
and  hoisted  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

This  action  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  seemed  to  greatly 
enrage  the  Spaniards.  They  set  their  gunners  at  work  right  merrily 
in  all  the  little  batteries  alono-  the  shore,  and  their  soldiers  fired  from 

o 

around  the  corners  of  the  houses  in  the  town,  but  the  American  ves 
sels  continued  to  fire  into  their  midst,  and  the  landing  party  quickly 
threw  up  an  entrenchment  across  the  street,  mounted  a  Colt  rapid- 
fire  gun  on  its  centre,  tangled  some  barbed  wire  in  front  of  this  im 
provised  entrenchment,  signalled  for  reinforcements,  and  then  opened 


420  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

fire  with  the  Colt.  The  result  was  that  five  of  the  enemy  were  killed, 
while  not  one  American  was  even  wounded,  and  no  further  resistance 
was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards. 

General  Miles  then  went  on  shore  and  personally  superintended 
the  landing.  Boatload  after  boatload  of  men,  and  long  strings  of 
boats,  towed  by  the  steam  launches  of  the  Massachusetts,  made  for 
the  shore.  The  troops  formed  into  companies  and  promptly  occu 
pied  points  of  vantage  in  the  neighborhood.  A  strong  detachment 
of  troops  was  sent  to  Yauco,  a  small  place  about  five  miles  inland, 
which  forms  the  western  terminus  of  the  railroad  leading  to  Ponce, 
15  miles  distant,  due  east.  The  troops  accompanying  General  Miles 
from.  Guantanamo  were  batteries  C  and  F  of  the  Third  Artillery,  and 
B  and  F  of  the  Fourth  Artillery,  Loniras'  Battery  of  the  Fifth  Artil 
lery,  the  Sixth  Illinois  Volunteers,  the  Sixth  Massachusetts,  275 
recruits  of  the  Fifth  Corps,  60  men  of  the  Signal  Corps  and  Seventh 
Hospital  Corps — 3,415  men  all  told. 

It  had  been  expected  by  the  War  Department  at  Washington 
that  the  first  landing  in  Porto  Rico  would  have  been  made  at  Fajarclo, 
but  General  Miles  cabled  by  way  of  St  Thomas  that  the  circum 
stances  were  such  that  he  had  deemed  it  advisable  to  take  the  harbor 
of  Guanica  first.  There  was  considerable  friction  in  connection  with 
this  change  in  the  programme,  which  some  of  the  Washington 
authorities  claimed  had  been  made  unwisely  by  General  Miles,  but 
the  General  of  the  army,  being  upon  the  spot,  evidently  considered 
himself  the  best  judge  of  the  situation. 

THE    SURRENDER    OF    PONCE. 

General  Miles  arrived  at  Port  Ponce,  having  marched  with  his 
division  from  Guanica  on  the  morning  of  July  28th.  General  Frnst's 
brigade  and  General  Wilson's  division  of  the  First  Army  Corps,  which 
had  left  Charleston  on  the  2 ist,  arrived  the  same  morning.  They 
found  the  port  already  under  American  control.  It  had  been  surren 
dered  to  Commander  C.  H.  Davis,  of  the  gunboat  Dixie,  on  the  27th. 
There  was  no  resistance,  and  the  Americans  were  welcomed  with 
enthusiasm.  General  Ernst's  brigade  immediately  started  for  the 
town  of  Ponce,  three  miles  inland,  which  also  promptly  capitulated, 
and  where  a  still  warmer  welcome  was  given  to  the  invaders. 


THE    MARKET  PLACE,    PONCE,    PORTO    RICO. 


THE  CUSTOM    HOUSE.    PONCE.    PORTO   RICO,   AFTER  THE   RAISING  OF  THE  AMERICAN 

FLAG   BY  GENERAL  MILES. 


A  PROCLAMATION  423 

Ferdinand  Toro,  the  British  Consul,  acting  in  behalf  of  the 
Spaniards,  placed  the  city  in  the  possession  of  General  Miles,  with 
whom  was  General  James  H.  Wilson,  commanding  the  First  Division 
of  the  First  Army  Corps.  The  scene  was  more  like  one  on  a  gala 
clay  than  one  involving  the  surrender  of  a  city.  A  majority  of  the 
residents  remained  in  the  city  to  welcome  the  Americans.  The  cere 
mony  was  unique.  General  Miles  and  General  Wilson,  by  a  pre 
arranged  plan,  had  been  driven  from  the  American  headquarters  at 
Port  Ponce  to  Casa  del  Rey,  in  the  city  proper,  where  Consul  Toro 
and  the  Mayor  awaited  them.  The  bombero,  or  city  fire  brigade,  was 
drawn  up  opposite  the  casa,  and  as  General  Miles  and  General  Wilson 
left  their  carriages  the  fire  brigade  band  played  a  Sousa  march.  Guards 
in  front  of  the  building  forced  away  for  the  American  generals,  and 
through  the  cheering  crowd  they  marched  into  the  building. 

Consul  Toro  said  to  General  Miles  that  the  citizens  of  Ponce 
were  anxious  to  know  if  the  same  municipal  officers,  and  system  as 
had  been  in  vogue  would  be  continued  temporarily.  He  was  assured 
that  municipal  affairs  would  not  be  disturbed  for  the  time  being,  but 
it  was  explained  that  all  would  be  responsible  to  General  Wilson,  as 
Military  Governor,  who  would  keep  the  city  under  a  form  of  martial 
law  which  would  be  oppressive  to  none. 

General  Miles  and  General  Wilson  then  stepped  out  on  the 
balcony  to  view  the  square.  The  crowd  cheered  wildly,  and  the  two 
American  generals  hastily  withdrew.  They  received  an  ovation  as 
they  made  their  way  back  to  headquarters,  and  all  that  afternoon  the 
Porto  Ricans  continued  to  arrive  in  carriages,  on  bicycles  and  on 
foot  to  cheer  the  generals  and  the  troops.  General  Miles'  principle 
of  purchasing  or  renting  everything  used  by  the  army  had  a  most  ex 
cellent  and  immediate  effect,  and  this  was  enhanced  by  the  prompt 
employment  of  several  hundred  natives  as  stevedores. 

A    PROCLAMATION. 

General  Miles  added  still  further  to  the  good  understanding 
between  the  Americans  and  the  Porto  Ricans  by  issuing  the  follow 
ing  proclamation  : 

"  In  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against  the  Kingdom  of  Spain 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  justice 


424  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

and  humanity,  its  military  forces  have  come  to  occupy  the  island  of 
Porto  Rico.  They  come  bearing  the  banners  of  freedom,  inspired  by 
a  noble  purpose,  to  seek  the  enemies  of  our  Government  and  of 
yours,  and  to  destroy  or  capture  all  in  armed  resistance. 

"  They  bring  you  the  fostering  arms  of  a  free  people,  whose 
greatest  power  is  justice  and  humanity  to  all  living  within  their  fold. 
Hence  they  release  you  from  your  former  political  relations,  and,  it 
is  hoped,  insure  your  cheerful  acceptance  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

"  The  chief  object  of  the  American  military  forces  will  be  to 
overthrow  the  armed  authority  of  Spain  and  give  the  people  of  your 
beautiful  island  the  largest  measure  of  liberty  consistent  with  this 
military  occupation.  They  have  not  come  to  make  war  on  the  people 
of  the  country,  who  for  centuries  have  been  oppressed,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  they  bring  protection  not  only  to  yourselves,  but  to  your 
property,  promote  your  prosperity,  and  bestow  the  immunities  and 
blessings  of  our  enlightenment  and  liberal  institutions  and  government. 

"  It  is  not  their  purpose  to  interfere  with  existing  laws  and  cus 
toms,  which  are  wholesome  and  beneficial  to  the  people,  so  long  as 
they  conform  to  the  rules  of  the  military  administration,  order  and 
justice.  This  is  not  a  war  of  devastation  and  desolation,  but  one  to 
give  all  within  the  control  of  the  military  and  naval  forces  the  advan 
tages  and  blessings  of  enlightened  civilization." 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  General  Wilson,  as  Military  Governor  of 
Porto  Rico,  was  to  release  the  political  prisoners.  One  of  these  was 
charged  with  having  cut  the  telegraph  wire  between  Ponce  and  San 
Juan  the  night  before  the  Americans  arrived  and  would  have  been 
killed  on  the  following  clay.  The  first  thing  these  political  ex- 
prisoners  thought  of,  when  once  they  breathed  free  air  again,  was  to 
see  their  friends  and  relatives ;  the  next  was  vengeance.  They 
promptly  corralled  the  Spaniards  who  had  put  them  into  prison,  and 
dragged  them  before  General  Wilson,  expecting  no  cloubt  that  they 
would  immediately  be  put  to  death,  but  General  Wilson  released  the 
Spaniards  and  told  the  Porto  Ricans  that  the  redress  they  expected 
was  not  his  to  give. 

There  came  also  to  General  Wilson,  a  large  delegation  of  Porto 
Rican  priests  who  wanted  to  know  what  provision  the  United  States 


ENTHUSIASM  AT  YAUCO  425 

Government  intended  to  make  for  the  churches.  The  Military 
Governor  informed  them  that,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  no  appropriations  could  be  made  to  religious  organizations, 
and  that  the  churches  'would  have  to  support  themselves.  The 
editors  of  several  newspapers  also  came  to  General  Wilson  to  ask,  if 
they  must  suspend  publication,  but  the  General  told  them  to  "  go 
ahead  and  print  the  news." 

While  these  matters  were  running  so  smoothly  at  Ponce,  how 
ever,  General  Garreton's  brigade,  which  had  remained  in  the  vicinity 
of  Guanica,  had  a  spirited  engagement  on  skirmish  lines,  July  26th. 
The  Americans  were  making  an  advance  upon  Yauco  when  they 
were  met  by  the  enemy  and  a  lively  fifteen  minutes'  fight  ensued. 
Four  men  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  were  wounded,  but  none 
seriously,  while  three  of  the  Spaniards  were  killed  and  thirteen  were 
wounded.  Yauco  was  reached  on  the  28th,  and  was  then  added  to 
the  towns  that  were  fast  coming  into  American  possession. 

ENTHUSIASM    AT    YAUCO. 

At  Yauco  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Porto  Ricans  was  even  more 
marked  than  at  Ponce.  When  the  Spaniards  had  been  driven  away 
the  citizens  greeted  the  soldiers  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as  if  they 
had  been  men  of  their  own  blood  returning  from  victory  over  a  com 
mon  enemy.  The  Mayor  of  the  town  promptly  issued  the  following 
proclamation  : 

44 Citizens! — On  to-day  the  citizens  of  Porto  Rico  assist  in  one  of 
her  most  beautiful  fetes — the  sun  of  America  shines  upon  our  moun 
tains  and  valleys  this  day  of  July,  1898.  It  is  a  day  of  glorious 
remembrance  for  each  son  of  this  beloved  isle,  because  for  the  first 
time  there  waves  over  us  a  flag  of  the  stars,  planted  in  the  name  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America,  by  the  Major- 
General  of  the  American  army,  Senor  Miles. 

44  Porto  Ricans,  we  are  by  the  miraculous  intervention  of  the  God 
of  the  just,  given  back  to  the  bosom  of  our  mother,  America,  in 
whose  waters  Nature  placed  us  as  people  of  America.  To  her  we 
are  given  back  in  the  name  of  her  Government  by  General  Miles, 
and  we  must  send  her  our  most  expressive  salutation  of  generous 
affection  through  our  conduct  towards  the  valiant  troops  represented 


426  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

by  distinguished  officers  and  commanded  by  the  illustrious  General 
Miles.  Citizens,  long  live  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  Hail  to  their  valiant  troops  !  Hail,  Porto  Rico,  always 
American.  "ALCALDE  FRANCISCO  MEGIA." 

"  Yauco,  Porto  Rico,  United  States  of  America. 

This  proclamation  was  acted  upon  by  the  people  without  hesita 
tion.  All  day  the  bands  played  in  the  public  square,  the  balconies 
were  filled  with  people,  and  dancing  with  the  soldiers  was  the  popular 
amusement  of  the  Porto  Rican  belles.  At  night  the  town  was  illumi 
nated,  and  half  a  dozen  receptions  were  given.  The  only  disturbing 
elements  were  reports  that  came  in  from  time  to  time  that  the 
Spaniards  had  been  re-inforced  and  were  coming  back,  but  the 
American  soldiers  speedily  dispelled  these  fears  and  the  revelry  went 
on  till  long  after  midnight. 

Guanica  had  been  the  first  town  captured,  Ponce  was  next  sur 
rendered,  and  Yauco  was  third.  The  fourth  town  to  be  taken  posses 
sion  of  was  Juan  Diaz.  This  was  captured  by  the  Sixteenth  Pennsyl 
vania  Volunteers,  under  command  of  Colonel  Willis  J.  Hulings, 
subsequently  promoted  to  a  Brigadier-Generalship  in  recognition  of 
his  services  here  and  at  Coamo.  This  was  the  first  Pennsylvania 
regiment  to  get  a  baptism  of  fire.  The  Tenth  had  not  yet  gotten 
into  any  engagements  in  Manila,  and  the  Fourth,  which  was  part  of 
the  Second  Brigade  of  General  Wilson's  division,  did  not  get  an 
opportunity  at  this  early  date. 

On  August  ist,  Arroyo  was  added  to  the  captured  towns.  It 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  United  States  without  a  struggle. 
When  the  sun  rose  over  the  picturesque  village  that  morning,  it  was, 
nominally  at  least,  in  possession  of  the  Spanish,  but  the  gunboat 
Gloucester  arrived  at  9  A.M.,  sent  a  landing  party  on  shore,  and  before 
noon  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  flying  over  the  Custom  House.  The 
only  two  declared  Spaniards  in  the  place — the  Captain  of  the  port 
and  a  priest — were  brought  out  to  the  Gloucester  as  prisoners,  but 
were  released  on  parole.  A  city  judge  and  His  Honor  the  Mayor 
were  subsequently  discovered  and  similarly  treated. 

A  careful  investigation  of  the  neighborhood  disclosed  the  fact 
that,  if  there  had  been  any  Spanish  soldiers  there,  they  had  made 
good  their  escape  before  the  appearance  of  the  gunboat,  but  the 


FIGHTING  FOR  THE  PENNSYLVANIANS  427 

Gloucester,  not  wishing  to  seem  to  have  made  such  an  easy  capture, 
dropped  a  couple  of  shells  into  the  woods  above  the  town,  where 
half  a  dozen  horsemen  were  seen  toward  evening,  and  if  these  were 
a  squad  of  Spanish  cavalry,  they  speedily  joined  the  main  body  of 
their  command  somewhere  far  away,  for  no  resistance  of  any  sort  was 
offered. 

Six  or  eight  miles  to  the  westward  of  Arroyo  was  the  more  im 
portant  town  of  Guayama.  This  fell  into  the  hands  of  General  Brooke 
the  day  after  he  landed  with  General  Haines'  brigade,  where  the 
Gloucester  had  made  sure  of  a  clear  footing,  at  Arroyo.  In  this 
brigade  were  the  Fourth  Ohio,  the  Third  Illinois,  and  the  Fourth 
Pennsylvania.  There  was  a  garrison  of  250  at  Guayama,  and  General 
Brooke  determined  to  send  an  adequate  force  there  rather  than  take 
any  chances  that  the  strength  of  the  garrison  had  not  been  under 
estimated.  A  message  was  sent  demanding  the  surrender  of  the 
place,  and  word  came  back  that  the  Mayor  of  Guayama  was  consider 
ing  the  advisability  of  complying  with  the  demand.  It  was  not  con 
sideration  that  General  Brooke  was  looking  for,  however,  but  surren 
der.  Therefore,  leaving  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  at  Arroyo,  General 
Haines  was  ordered  to  take  the  Fourth  Ohio  and  Third  Illinois  to 
Guayama.  These  regiments  appeared  in  front  of  the  town  on  August 
5th,  had  some  slight  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  and  obtained  pos 
session  without  strong  resistance.  Three  privates  of  the  Fourth  Ohio 
were  wounded  in  the  skirmishing,  none  of  them  seriously.  • 

FIGHTING    FOR    THE    PENNSYLVANIANS. 

The  town  of  Coamo  was  captured  on  August  9th,  after  half  an 
hour  of  fighting,  by  Generals  Wilson  and  Ernst.  General  Wilson 
devised  the  method  of  attack,  supervised  the  performance  in  person, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  to  enter  the  town  after  its  surrender.  The 
troops  under  him,  comprising  General  Ernst's  brigade,  were  the 
Second  and  Third  Wisconsin  and  the  Sixteenth  Pennsylvania.  They 
left  camp  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  taking  with  them  two  batteries 
of  artillery  with  which  they  began  a  cannonading  of  the  town  with  a 
view  to  disclosing  the  strength  of  the  opposing  force.  The  Sixteenth 
Pennsylvania,  however,  had  the  good  fortune  to  do  all  the  real  fight 
ing.  They  were  guided  in  their  advance  upon  Coamo  by  Colonel 


428  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

Biddle  and  Captain  Gardiner  of  General  Wilson's   staff,  and  reached 
the  town  ahead  of  the  Wisconsin  Volunteers. 

Suddenly,  emerging  from  behind  a  hill  back  of  the  town,  they 
saw  a  line  of  Spanish  rifles  aimed  at  them.  Then  came  the  crash  of 
a  volley,  the  ping  and  whistle  of  bullets  and  a  scramble  for  cover. 
The  Americans  had  no  shelter,  while  the  Spaniards  had  a  perfect 
breastwork  in  a  bank  of  earth,  which  had  been  thrown  up  by  the  road- 
builders  to  protect  the  gutter  of  the  road  from  being  washed  away, 
but  the  American  fire  was  very  effective.  There  was  among  the 
Spaniards  about  a  dozen  mounted  men  and  officers,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  all  of  them  had  been  shot  down.  Six  of  the  horses  were 
found  dead  and  all  wounded.  The  Second  Battalion  of  the  Sixteenth 
Pennsylvania  now  emerged  upon  the  road  beyond  the  Spaniards,  and, 
as  soon  as  the  entrapped  Dons  saw  themselves  surrounded,  the  whole 
line  fluttered  with  white  signals  of  surrender.  Major  Windsor  ac 
cepted  the  surrender,  and  had  them  drop  their  arms  and  accoutre 
ments  in  piles  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  The  prisoners  included 
one  major,  one  captain,  three  lieutenants,  and  162  enlisted  men, 
nearly  all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  Twenty-fifth  Battalion  of  the 
Spanish  Infantry. 

The  Spanish  wounded  were  cared  for  at  the  same  time  with 
those  of  the  Americans  who  were  hit.  Dead  and  wounded  were 
both  taken  to  one  of  the  official  road  houses  near  at  hand.  There 
were  five  dead  Spaniards  on  the  road,  and  one  more  died  soon  after 
the  surrender.  The  Americans  had  a  number  of  men  slightly 
wounded,  most  of  them,  however,  being  merely  clipped  by  the 
shower  of  Mauser  bullets.  Five  had  to  go  to  the  hospital,  all 
privates  of  the  Sixteenth  Pennsylvania,  except  Corporal  Barnes,  of 
Company  E,  whose  abdomen  was  cut  by  a  Mauser  bullet  as  if  by  a 
knife. 

The  Spanish  dead  were  treated  with  the  highest  respect.  Sur 
geon  Major  John  McG.  Woodbury,  of  General  Wilson's  staff,  took 
charge  of  their  burial,  and  gave  full  permission  to  the  Spanish  chap 
lain  and  the  local  priests  to  conduct  the  services  in  any  manner  they 
chose.  The  bodies  of  the  officers  were  sent  to  Ponce  for  burial,  the 
others  were  interred  in  the  cemetery  at  Coamo  with  all  the  cere 
monies  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


NOT  A   VERY  CORDIAL  RECEPTION  429 

The  noise  of  the  firing  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  Sixteenth 
Pennsylvania  was  plainly  heard  in  the  town,  and,  when  General  Wil 
son  and  the  rest  of  the  troops  appeared  on  the  outskirts,  the  alcalde 
was  there  to  offer  the  place  in  surrender.  Generals  Wilson  and 
Ernst  slept  that  night  at  the  residence  of  the  alcalde,  and  the  troops 
passed  on  through  the  town  and  made  camp  in  the  direction  of 
Aybonito. 

NOT    A    VERY    CORDIAL    RECEPTION. 

The  reception  of  the  Americans  in  Coamo  was  not  as  cordial  as 
it  had  been  in  Ponce  or  at  Yauco.  Many  of  the  people  were  in  the 
streets  and  some  shouted  welcomes,  but  there  was  a  much  greater 
reserve  than  in  places  previously  occupied.  This  was  due,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  misbehavior  of  some  of  the  American  soldiers  who 
first  entered  the  town.  Some  of  them  went  into  the  stores  and 
eating  houses,  seized  what  they  wanted,  and  went  off  without  paying 
for  it.  The  result  was  that  the  stores  soon  closed,  'and  it  was  not 
possible  for  any  one  to  buy  a  thing  to  eat  The  action  of  the  soldiers 
in  this  regard  was  strongly  condemned  by  General  Wilson,  but  the 
offenders  could  not  be  identified. 

Meanwhile  General  Schwan,  with  a  force  of  1,300  men,  including 
regulars  of  the  Eleventh  Infantry,  two  batteries  of  regular  artillery 
and  one  troop  of  regular  cavalry,  had  started  from  Guanica,  where 
General  Miles  had  made  his  landing  and  was  undertaking  a  some 
what  independent  expedition  in  the  direction  of  Mayaguez.  This 
expedition  possessed  one  or  two  peculiarities.  A  Brigadier-General 
commanded  what  was  barely  more  than  a  single  regiment.  It  included 
all  three  arms  of  the  service,  and  it  was  accompanied  by  a  wagon 
train.  Moreover,  it  kept  moving,  and  was  constantly  confronted  with 
a  force  which  was  its  numerical  equal,  if  not  its  superior. 

It  occupied  Savana  Grande  and  San  German  practically  without 
opposition,  but  about  six  miles  beyond  San  German,  midway  between 
that  place  and  Mayaguez,  the  enemy  was  met  in  considerable  force. 
A  hamlet  at  this  point,  bearing  the  name  of  Hormigueros,  boasted 
an  army  barracks,  the  headquarters  of  a  Spanish  battalion,  which  is 
practically  the  equivalent  of  an  American  regiment  in  its  numerical 
strength.  Here  an  engagement  took  place.  There  was  a  bit  of 
sharp  infantry  firing,  with  a  slight  casualty  list  for  both  sides.  It 


430  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

was  not  much  of  a  fight,  but  it  put  the  American  flag"  in  the  place  of 
the  red  and  yellow  over  a  Spanish  military  edifice.  The  Spaniards 
might  have  stopped  the  Americans  twenty  times  within  the  next  few 
miles.  They  might  have  decimated  the  invading  ranks  by  guerilla 
firing,  but  they  seemed  to  have  been  terror-stricken  by  the  appear 
ance  of  an  army  which  fired  as  it  moved  forward  and  moved  forward 
always. 

For  General  Schwan  did  not  stop  for  a  grand  celebration  at 
Hormigueros.  He  left  a  small  detatchment  as  garrison  and  went  on 
his  way.  This  detatchment  might  easily  have  been  swallowed  up  by 
a  return  of  the  Spaniards  from  their  flight  across  the  hills,  but  they 
seemed  to  have  been  too  much  interested  in  cfettin^  somewhere  else. 

o  o 

Mayaguez  was  occupied  practically  without  resistance,  and  the 
army  pushed  on  toward  Aguaclilla  and  Lares.  Anasco  was  occupied 
and  Aguarcla  virtually  so.  The  Spanish  troops  fell  back  on  Lares, 
with  the  Americans  in  hot  pursuit.  They  were  overtaken  on  the 
banks  of  a  river  near  Las  Marias  where  an  engagement  took  place  in 
which  the  Spanish  are  known  to  have  lost  five  killed  and  fourteen 
wounded,  though  later  reports  were  to  the  effect  that  the  losses  from 
the  American  firing  and  from  death  by  drowning  in  crossing  the  river 
were  many  times  that  number.  Another  twenty-four  hours  would 
undoubtedly  have  found  General  Schwan  in  possession  of  Lares  and 
Aguadilla,  and  in  control  of  all  the  western  part  of  the  island,  but  the 
truce  had  been  declared  before  these  points  were  reached.  The 
American  losses  throughout  this  whole  campaign  amounted  to  two 
men  killed  and  one  officer  and  seventeen  men  wounded. 

TRUCE    IS    DECLARED. 

The  truce  had  been  brought  about,  it  will  be  remembered,  as  the 
result  of  the  advances  made  by  the  French  Ambassador  in  Washing 
ton,  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  Spain,  on  July  26th,  asking 
President  McKinley  upon  what  terms  he  would  consent  to  peace. 
This  was  two  clays  before  Ponce  surrendered  to  General  Miles,  but 
the  result  of  the  negotiations  was  still  problematical.  Two  days  later, 
on  July  3Oth,  President  McKinley's  statement  as  to  the  conditions  on 
which  he  would  agree  to  end  the  war  was  given  to  the  French 
Ambassador. 


SUNRISE   EXECUTIONS 

Outside  the  prison  walls,  Havana.     Weyler's  way  of  getting 
rid  of  prisoners. 


A   MARKET  GIRL,    PORTO   RICO. 


A  VOLANTE,   1  H  E  TYPICAL  CUBAN   CONVEYANCE. 


TRUCE  IS  DECLARED  433 

The  proposition  submitted  by  the  Ambassador,  acting  for  the 
Spanish  Government  was  general  in  its  terms.  It  was  confined  to 
the  one  essential  point  of  an  earnest  plea  that  negotiations  be  opened 
for  the  purpose  of  terminating  the  war  and  arriving  at  terms  of  peace. 
The  communication  of  the  Spanish  Government  did  not  suggest  any 
specific  terms  of  peace,  nor  was  there  any  reference  made  to  Cuba, 
the  Philippines,  Porto  Rico,  or  other  Spanish  possessions. 

The  evident  purpose  of  the  Madrid  authorities  was  to  first  learn 
whether  the  United  States  would  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace,  and 
after  that  to  take  up  such  terms  as  the  two  parties  might  suggest. 
Neither  was  there  any  suggestion  from  the  Spanish  Government 
that  an  armistice  be  established,  pending  the  peace  negotiations.  It 
was  generally  expected,  however,  that  if  formal  peace  negotiations 
were  entered  upon  a  cessation  of  hostilities  would  occur. 

Owing  to  the  importance  of  the  communication,  the  French 
Ambassador  adopted  the  usual  diplomatic  procedure  of  reading  the 
communication  of  the  Spanish  Government  from  the  original,  a  trans 
lation  being  submitted  at  the  same  time.  In  the  conversation  which 
followed  the  reading  of  the  proposition,  neither  the  President  nor  the 
Ambassador  entered  upon  the  question  of  the  terms  of  peace.  The 
instructions  of  the  Ambassador  confined  him  to  the  one  essential 
point  of  opening  peace  negotiations,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
President  desired  to  consider  the  proposition  before  giving  any  defi 
nite  reply.  It  was  finally  determined  that  the  President  should  con 
sult  his  Cabinet  concerning  the  proposition  and  that  M.  Cambon 
would  be  invited  to  the  White  House  for  further  conference  and  for 
a  final  answer  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

On  July  3oth  the  answer  of  the  American  Government  to  Spain 
was  handed  to  the  French  Ambassador.  It  included  the  following 
propositions :  The  absolute  surrender  of  Porto  Rico  to  the  United 
States ;  relinquishment  of  Spanish  sovereignty  in  Cuba ;  the  cession 
of  several  small  islands  adjacent  to  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  to  the  United 
States  ;  the  cession  of  one  of  the  Ladrone  Islands  to  the  United 
States  as  a  coaling  station,  and  the  leaving  of  the  disposition  of  the 
Philippine  subject  to  future  negotiations. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  did  not  put  forward  any 
claim  for  pecuniary  indemnity,  but  required  the  relinquishment  of  all 


434  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

claim  of  sovereignty  over  or  title  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  as  well  as  the 
immediate  evacuation  by  Spain  of  the  Island.  The  United  States 
announced  its  intention  to  occupy  and  hold  the  city,  bay  and  harbor 
of  Manila,  pending  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  which  would 
determine  the  control,  disposition  and  government  of  the  Philippines. 
It  was  also  provided,  that,  if  these  terms  were  accepted  in  their 
entirety  by  Spain,  commissioners  would  be  named  by  the  United 
States  to  meet  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Spain  for  the  purpose  of 
concluding  a  Treaty  of  Peace  on  the  basis  indicated. 

THE    PROTOCOL    SIGNED. 

On  August  9,  1898,  the  Spanish  Cabinet  approved  the  terms  for 
preliminary  negotiations,  and  this  acceptance  of  the  conditions  was 
communicated  to  President  McKinley.  On  August  I2th,  protocols 
agreeing  as  to  the  preliminaries  for  a  Treaty  of  Peace  were  signed  by 
Secretary  of  State  Day  and  the  French  Ambassador,  United  States 
naval  and  military  commanders  were  ordered  to  cease  hostilities,  and 
the  negotiation  of  a  permanent  peace  was  begun.  The  full  text  of 
the  protocols  was  as  follows  : 

"  i.  That  Spain  will  relinquish  all  claim  of  sovereignty  over  and 
title  to  Cuba. 

"  2  That  Porto  Rico  and  other  Spanish  islands  in  the  West 
Indies  and  an  island  in  the  Ladrones,  to  be  selected  by  the  United 
States,  shall  be  ceded  to  the  latter. 

"  3.  That  the  United  States  will  occupy  and  hold  the  city,  bay 
and  harbor  of  Manila,  pending  the  conclusion  of  a  Treaty  of  Peace 
which  shall  determine  the  control,  disposition  and  government  of  the 
Philippines. 

"  4.  That  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  other  Spanish  islands  in  the  West 
Indies  shall  be  immediately  evacuated,  and  that  commissioners,  to  be 
appointed  within  ten  days,  shall,  within  thirty  days  from  the  signing 
of  the  protocol,  meet  at  Havana  and  San  Juan,  respectively,  to 
arrange  and  execute  the  details  of  the  evacuation. 

"5.  That  the  United  States  and  Spain  will  each  appoint  not 
more  than  five  commissioners  to  negotiate  and  conclude  a  Treaty  of 
of  Peace.  The  commissioners  are  to  meet  at  Paris  not  later  than 
October  ist. 


A  PROCLAMATION  435 

"  6.  On  the  signing  of  the  protocol,  hostilities  will  be  suspended 
and  notice  to  that  effect  will  be  given  as  soon  as  possible  by  each 
Government  to  the  commanders  of  its  military  and  naval  forces." 

The  proclamation  declaring  the  existence  of  an  armistice  was  as 
follows  : 

"By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America: 

A    PROCLAMATION. 

''WHEREAS,  By  a  protocol  concluded  and  signed  August  12,  1898, 
by  William  R.  Day,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  and 
His  Excellency  Jules  Cambon,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Pleni 
potentiary  of  the  Republic  of  France  at  Washington,  respectively 
representing  for  this  purpose  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Government  of  Spain,  the  United  States  and  Spain  have 
formally  agreed  upon  the  terms  on  which  negotiations  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  peace  between  the  two  countries  shall  be  undertaken;  and, 

"WHEREAS,  It  is  in  said  protocol  agreed  that  upon  its  conclusion 
and  signature  hostilities  between  the  two  countries  shall  be  suspended, 
and  that  notice  to  that  effect  shall  be  given  as  soon  as  possible  by 
each  Government  to  the  commanders  of  its  military  and  naval  forces; 

"  Now,  THEREFORE,  I, William  McKinley,  President  of  the  United 
States,  do,  in  accordance  with  the  stipulations  of  the  protocol,  declare 
and  proclaim  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  a  suspension  of  hos 
tilities,  and  do  hereby  command  that  orders  be  immediately  given 
through  the  proper  channels  to  the  commanders  of  the  military  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  to  abstain  from  all  acts  inconsistent 
with  this  proclamation. 

"  IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  i2th  day  of  August,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight, 
and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-third. 

[SEAL]  "WILLIAM  McKiNLEY. 

"By  the  President. 

"  WILLIAM  R.  DAY,  Secretary  of  State." 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

This  armistice  proclamation  was  followed  at  once  by  orders  from 
the  War  and  Navy  Departments  to  the  several  commanders  in  the 
field  and  of  the  fleets,  directing  that  all  operations  be  suspended. 
Identical  cablegrams  were  sent  to  General  Miles  in  Porto  Rico,  Gen 
eral  Shafter  in  Cuba,  General  Merritt  in  the  Philippines,  and  to 
Admirals  Sampson  and  Dewey ;  but  it  was  in  Porto  Rico  that  the 
principal  operations  were  going  on  at  that  time,  and  it  was  there  that 
the  effect  was  most  interesting. 

General  Miles  was  at  Ponce  when  the  news  of  the  signing  of  the 
protocol  was  cabled  from  Washington.  Generals  Brooke  and  Wil 
son,  with  their  brigades,  were  further  afield.  General  Wilson  had 
received  instructions  from  General  Miles  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
Aybonito  whenever  he  felt  that  the  position  warranted  such  a  demand. 
With  the  view,  therefore,  of  making  a  demonstration  in  force,  and 
also  for  the  sake  of  developing  the  enemy's  position,  General  Wilson 
had,  on  the  morning  of  August  I3th,  ordered  Major  Lancaster  to 
take  a  battery  of  the  Third  Artillery,  advance  from  the  outskirts  of 
Coamo,  where  they  had  been  in  camp,  and  shell  the  Spanish  position 
at  that  place  and  Aybonito  Pass. 

IN  A  SHOWER  OF  LEADEN  BULLETS. 

These  positions  were  very  strong,  consisting  of  a  series  of  rifle- 
pits  along  the  crests  of  the  mountains  overlooking  the  military  road 
for  miles.  The  enemy  also  had  several  fieldpieces,  modern  guns  of 
small  calibre,  mounted  behind  earthworks.  As  the  horses  of  the 
battery  galloped  up  the  road,  the  enemy's  infantry,  from  the  pits  on 
the  mountains,  showered  bullets  all  about  them.  Four  of  the  guns 
were  unlimbered  off  the  road,  behind  a  natural  fortification  in  the 
shape  of  a  ridge,  while  the  fifth  gun  was  taken  further  above  and 
unlimbered  at  a  turn  within  plain  sight  of  the  Spanish  position,  though 
the  horses  and  caissons  were  sheltered  by  a  high  bank  on  the  roadside. 

Within  two  minutes  all  five  guns  were  thundering  at  the  hill  on 
which  the  enemy's  artillery  was  located.  Instantly  came  the  reply. 
Shells  screamed  over  the  heads  of  the  Americans  for  the  thirty 
minutes  that  the  duel  continued.  Our  fire  was  so  well  directed  that, 
after  half  a  dozen  shots,  only  one  of  the  Spanish  guns  replied. 
Twenty  minutes  l^ter  this  also  was  silenced,  and  the  Spaniards  could 


GENERAL  BROOKE'S  EXPERIENCE  437 

be  seen  fleeing  from  the  trenches  and  making  for  the  rifle-pits  on  the 
left.  The  rifle-pits  were  promptly  shelled  and  a  sharp  fire  was  returned 
for  a  few  minutes,  but  silence  presently  prevailed  along  the  entire 
Spanish  line.  General  Wilson  then  ordered  the  artillery  to  cease 
firing.  This  was  about  3  P.M.  Another  section  of  the  battery  was 
then  ordered  up  the  road,  and  when  it  reached  the  point  whence  the 
former  firing  had  taken  place,  the  enemy  began  a  fusillade,  and  all 
three  of  the  American  batteries  were  at  once  turned  loose  upon  them 
until  silence  ultimately  reigned  supreme. 

General  Wilson  then  sent  Colonel  Bliss,  his  chief  of  staff,  into 
Aybonito  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  city. 
Colonel  Bliss  delivered  the  demand  and  reported  to  General  Wilson 
that  the  commandant  had  said  :  "  If  you  want  to  save  the  further 
shedding  of  blood,  stay  where  you  are." 

General  Wilson  promptly  ordered  the  artillery  to  unlimber  again, 
and  the  gunners  were  making  preparations  to  fire  when  the  message 
was  received  from  General  Miles,  notifying  General  Wilson  of  the 
signing  of  the  protocol  and  the  ending  of  hostilities.  The  artillery 
men  were  so  put  out  by  being  stopped  from  again  attacking  the 
Spaniards  that  many  of  them  wept. 

Meantime  General  Brooke  had  been  operating  in  the  vicinity  of 
Guayama,  and  his  experience  at  the  final  moment  of  the  war  was 
equally  interesting.  He  had  instructed  General  Haines  to  advance 
with  the  Fourth  Ohio  and  the  Third  Illinois  from  Arroyo  with  a 
view  to  ascertaining  the  truth  of  a  report  to  the  effect  that  the 
enemy's  troops  had  gathered  in  considerable  force,  at  a  point  about 
five  miles  distant  up  the  military  road  to  San  Juan.  The  Fourth 
Pennsylvania,  under  Colonel  David  Brainerd  Case,  was  left  at  Arroyo 
as  a  temporary  garrison,  this  being  the  only  other  regiment  in  General 
Haines  brigade.  After  proceeding  about  half  the  distance  to  the 
reported  point  of  interest  the  Third  Illinois  was  left  as  a  reserve,  and 
the  Fourth  Ohio  proceeded  along  the  main  road,  General  Brooke 
and  his  aides  being  in  advance  of  the  column. 

The  day  was  beautiful.  A  slight  breeze  cooled  the  air  and  tem 
pered  the  heat  of  the  sun.  A  peculiar  haze  covered  the  hills  with  a 
bluish  veil.  There  was  nothing  to  break  the  stillness  for  a  while,  but 

presently  a  sharply  singing  "pstwing"  was  heard  over  the  heads  of  the 
24 


438  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

soldiers,  a  sound  which  nearly  every  one  took  for  the  whizzing  of  a 
Mauser  bullet.  One  of  the  General's  aides,  however,  called  attention 
to  a  telegraph  wire  that  had  sagged  by  the  roadside,  and  he  insisted 
that  it  had  been  cut,  but  the  discussion  was  immediately  ended  by 
the  arrival  of  a  great  many  messages,  not  over  the  wire,  but  through 
the  air,  and  the  soldiers  then  knew  that  the  enemy  were  watching 
and  intending  to  oppose  their  progress. 

The  range  of  the  enemy's  fire  was  evidently  a  long  one,  as  many 
of  the  bullets  lay  spent  at  the  very  feet  of  the  invaders,  and  the 
report  of  the  Mausers  was  not  heard  until  long  after  the  song  of  the 
bullet.  No  smoke  or  flash  could  be  seen  in  any  direction.  It  was 
some  time  before  the  enemy's  exact  position  could  be  ascertained. 
This  sort  of  thing  kept  up  for  about  an  hour.  Finally  the  Spaniards 
retreated  toward  the  hills  and  took  up  positions  behind  rocks,  from 
which  they  did  some  pretty  brisk  firing.  The  dynamite  guns  were 
finally  brought  up,  five  shells  were  thrown  into  the  midst  of  the 
enemy,  and  this  silenced  them  effectively. 

This  engagement  occurred  on  August  i8th.  Two  days  later 
another  advance  was  made  along  the  San  Juan  road  to  a  point  where 
the  Spaniards  could  be  seen,  distinctly  with  a  glass,  throwing  up 
entrenchments  on  the  opposite  hills ;  also  small  bodies  of  them  mov 
ing  about  upon  the  side  of  the  mountain  some  three  or  four  thousand 
yards  distant.  The  Fourth  Ohio,  under  Colonel  Coit,  was  at  the 
head  of  the  column.  The  road  along  which  they  were  proceeding 
was  cut  from  the  face  of  the  hill.  The  last  company  was  about  to 
pass  through  two  open  ledges  in  which  the  road  was  laid,  when  a  ter 
rific  volley  fire  was  opened  from  the  Spanish  entrenchments.  Colonel 
Coit  and  two  members  of  General  Brooke's  staff,  who  had  ridden  up, 
took  shelter  behind  a  small  house  by  the  roadside,  and  the  rest  of  the 
command  lay  flat  upon  their  faces.  A  gutter  or  trench  by  the  side  of 
the  road  was  the  only  cover.  Into  that  rolled  the  men,  and  finally, 
by  its  cover,  managed  to  crawl  around  the  bend  to  a  place  protected 
from  the  enemy's  fire. 

The  firing  line  was  soon  formed,  however,  the  wounded  were 
brought  back,  and  a  few  well-directed  volleys  told  the  enemy  that 
they  were  not  to  have  it  all  their  own  way.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
dynamite  guns  were  once  more  brought  up.  These  caused  the 


THE  FINAL  OPERATION  439 

Spanish  to  retreat.  Several  of  the  men  of  the  Fourth  Ohio  were 
slightly  wounded  in  this  engagement,  but  none  were  killed,  and  there 
was  never  any  means  of  ascertaining  the  effect  of  the  American  fire 
upon  the  Spanish  lines  at  this  point. 

THE    FINAL     OPERATION. 

The  final  operation  was  on  the  morning  of  the  i3th  of  August, 
when  General  Brooke,  who  had  come  up  to  General  Haines'  position 
again,  with  three  batteries  of  artillery  and  two  troops  of  cavalry, 
ordered  a  concentrated  movement  upon  the  enemy's  position.  The 
orders  for  this  movement  had  been  issued  on  the  night  of  the  I2th. 
They  were  that  the  troops  should  be  in  readiness  at  6  A.M.  for  the 
advance  in  the  direction  of  San  Juan.  There  was  little  sleep  that 
night.  The  route  had  been  reconnoitered,  and  the  reports  that  had 
been  made  upon  it  indicated  that  serious  work  was  to  be  expected. 

The  military  road  along  which  the  advance  was  to  be  made  was 
a  winding  affair  with  deep  cuts.  Often  there  was  a  sheer  wall  of  two 
hundred  feet  rising  on  one  side,  while  across  the  road  would  be  a 

o 

descent  of  perhaps  three  times  that  distance.  The  road  led  directly 
over  the  mountains,  and  on  every  advantageous  spot  along  that  road 
of  ten  miles,  the  Spaniards  had  planted  batteries  that  could  not  be 
seen  from  the  road  and  were  unapproachable  in  any  other  way. 

Some  of  these  entrenchments  overlooked  precipices  three  hun 
dred  feet  deep.  To  get  at  them,  except  by  way  of  the  road,  meant  to 
scale  walls  of  perpendicular  rock.  In  some  places  tons  of  rocks  and 
boulders  were  held  in  place  on  lofty  ledges  by  great  vines  and  prickly 
scrub  growth. 

From  these  entrenchments  of  the  Spaniards  it  was  possible  to 
note  every  movement  of  the  American  troops.  The  enemy  could 
accurately  determine  the  strength  of  the  invading  force,  but  an  esti 
mate  of  the  force  of  the  enemy  was  all  guesswork.  It  was  only 
known  that  the  Spaniards,  many  or  few,  were  magnificently  en 
trenched,  and  that  it  was  going  to  be  a  hard  job  to  rout  them. 

When  the  troops  were  led  out  of  Guayama,  on  that  morning  of 
August  1 3th,  with  General  Brooke  and  his  staff  at  the  head,  the 
streets  and  balconies  were  crowded  with  natives.  General  Haines, 
with  some  of  the  infantry,  was  sent  to  flank  the  enemy's  position  on 


44o  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  PORTO  RICO 

the  left,  while  the  cavalry  were  to  perform  a  similar  movement  on  the 
right.  General  Brooke  continued  to  lead  the  advance  in  person. 
Part  of  the  time  he  was  on  foot,  while  his  staff  and  horses  halted 
along  the  roadside.  He  carefully  scanned  the  hills  with  his  field- 
glass,  and  others  who  did  the  same  could  plainly  see  the  Spaniards  in 
their  fortifications  at  points  where  they  had  perfect  command  of  the 
road.  To  have  taken  those  hills  would  have  been  as  memorable  a 
victory  as  that  of  the  division  of  General  Lawton  at  El  Caney,  or  the 
dash  up  the  slopes  of  San  Juan,  and  General  Brooke's  force  was  eager 
for  the  chance  to  take  them. 

The  troops  were  soon  ordered  forward,  and,  clambering  up  the 
steep  slope,  were  formed  into  a  firing  line.  The  batteries  followed. 
Battery  B,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  having  the  right  of  the  line,  was  the  first 
to  begin  unlimbering.  The  guns  were  soon  in  place  ;  their  targets 
were  marked  and  the  range  calculated.  The  cavalry  then  disappeared 
around  the  hills.  General  Haines  was  only  a  little  distance  away 
with  the  rest  of  the  infantry.  The  Spanish  position  could  be  plainly 
noted.  Eagerness  and  expectation  were  universal.  There  was  an 
almost  impressive  silence.  Even  the  final  orders  were  issued  in  a 
subdued  voice,  and  everybody  believed  that  the  next  thing  to  occur 
would  be  the  belching  of  artillery  and  a  hail  of  leaden  missiles. 

THE  MESSAGE  THAT  ENDED  THE  WAR. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  a  mounted  officer,  closely  followed 
by  his  orderly  on  a  mule,  appeared  around  a  bend  of  the  road,  lashing 
his  tired  steed  through  the  battery.  It  was  Lieutenant  McLaughlin, 
of  the  Signal  Corps.  He  rode  up  to  General  Brooke,  neglecting,  in 
his  haste,  to  dismount,  and  said:  "  An  important  message,  sir." 
General  Brooke  took  the  message  from  the  hand  of  the  messenger, 
read  it,  passed  it  to  one  of  his  staff,  then  quietly  turned  about  and 
gave  the  order  that  the  troops  return  to  Guayama. 

The  contents  of  the  message  were  soon  known  to  everybody. 
They  were  as  follows : 

"PORT  PONCE,  August  13,  1898. 
"Major-  General  Brooke  : — 

"  By  direction  of  the  President,  operations  against  the  enemy  are 
suspended.  Negotiations  are  near  completion.  The  protocol  has 


THE  MESSAGE  THAT  ENDED  THE  WAR  441 

been    signed  by    representatives  of  the    two    countries.       All    com 
manders  will  be  governed  accordingly. 

"By  COMMAND  OF  MAJOR-GENERAL  MILES, 

11  GILMORE,  Chief  of  Staff." 

Not  a  comment  was  heard.  The  soldiers  were  utterly  stupefied. 
^The  retreat  was  made  sullenly,  but  on  the  march  the  disappointed 
soldiers,  officers  and  all,  used  not  a  little  strong  language  in  condem 
nation  of  their  luck. 

"  Three  minutes  more,"  said  General  Brooke,  "  and  we  should 
have  fired."  Just  then  an  enthusiast  in  the  ranks,  determined  to  give 
some  vent  to  his  feelings,  discharged  his  rifle,  and  this  was  the  last 
shot  of  the  war.  General  Brooke  looked  around  for  a  moment,  as  if 
wishing  he  knew  who  had  committed  this  breach  of  discipline,  but  he 
merely  smiled,  as  if  perfectly  understanding  the  situation,  and  led  the 
troops  back  to  the  coast.  Thus  was  the  military  feature  of  the  expe 
dition  to  Porto  Rico  brought  to  an  end,  and  all  that  remains  to  be 
told  is  in  connection  with  the  Civil  Departments. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Porto  Rico— Past,  Present  and  Future 

The  Island  and  Its  Population. — Its  Future  as  a  Winter  Resort. — Timber  in 
Abundance  and  Variety. — Minerals  and  Mining.— Some  Facts  about  Its 
Commerce,  which  Amounts  to  over  $36,000,000. — The  Chief  Cities  and  Towns 
of  Porto  Rico. — Snap-shots  of  San  Juan,  the  Capital,  and  of  Ponce,  the  Next 
Largest  City. 

IT  was  in  November  of  the  year  1493,  on  his  second  voyage  to  the 
New  World,  that  Columbus  landed  on  a  strange  island,  in  quest 

of  water  for  his  ships.  He  found  it  in  abundance,  and  called 
the  place  Aquadilla — the  watering  place.  As  he  had  done  at  Cuba 
the  year  before,  the  great  discoverer  held  pleasant  conferences  with 
the  natives,  and  with  due  ceremony  took  possession  of  the  island  for 
his  benefactors  and  sovereigns — Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain. 
From  that  day  until  it  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1898,  as  a 
result  of  the  Spanish-American  War,  Porto  Rico  remained  one  of 
the  most  attractive  and  valuable  of  Spain's  West  Indian  possessions. 

The  simple  and  friendly  natives  gladly  welcomed  their  Spanish 
invaders,  who,  with  the  same  promptness  which  was  manifested  in 
Cuba,  proceeded  to  enslave  and  exterminate  them.  In  1510,  Ponce 
de  Leon  founded  the  first  settlement  on  the  site  of  the  present 
village  of  Puerto  Viejo.  The  next  year  the  noted  ivader  founded 
San  Juan,  the  present  capital  of  the  island.  One  of  the  most  inter 
esting  sights  of  this  old  city  to-day  is  the  Casa  Blanca,  built  at  that 
period  as  the  palatial  residence  of  Ponce  de  Leon.  It  was  there, 
perhaps,  after  he  had  finished  his  conquest  of  the  island,  that  this 
famous  old  Spaniard  listened  to  the  wonderful  story  of  the  natives, 
who  served  him  as  slaves,  concerning  the  mysterious  country  over 
the  sea  which  had  hidden  in  its  forests  a  fountain  wherein  an  old 
man  might  plunge  and  be  restored  to  all  the  vigor  of  youth.  It  was 
there  and  thus,  perhaps,  while  sitting  at  leisure  in  his  palace,  that  de 
Leon  planned  the  voyage  in  search  of  that  "fountain  of  youth" 
which  resulted  in  the  discovery  and  exploration  of  Florida. 

443 


444  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

As  to  the  number  of  natives  in  Porto  Rico  when  the  Spaniards 
came  old  chroniclers  differ.  Some  say  there  were  500,000,  others 
300,000.  It  is  all  surmise.  Probably  the  latter  figure  is  an  over 
estimate,  for  Cuba,  more  than  ten  times  as  large,  was  not  thought  to 
contain  more  than  half  a  million  of  inhabitants  at  most.  A  detailed 
account  of  their  manners  and  customs  was  written  by  one  of  the 
early  Spaniards,  and  part  of  it  is  translated  by  the  British  Consul, 
Mr.  Bidwell,  in  his  Consular  Report  of  1880.  Some  of  the  state 
ments  in  this  old  book  are  most  peculiar  and  interesting.  Within  the 
last  forty  years  archaeologists  have  discovered  many  stone  axes, 
spear-heads  and  knives,  stone  and  clay  images,  and  pieces  of  earthen 
ware  made  by  the  aboriginal  Porto  Ricans,  and  these  are  preserved 
in  the  Smithsonian  Institute  at  Washington,  in  Berlin,  and  elsewhere. 
It  is  curious  that  none  of  these  remains  had  been  found  prior  to 
1856.  On  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  there  still  stands,  also,  a 
a  rude  stone  monument,  with  strange  designs  carved  upon  its  surface. 

From  the  earliest  times,  the  island,  with  its  rich  produce  and 
commerce,  was  the  prey  of  robbers.  The  fierce  cannibal  Caribs 
from  the  south  made  expeditions  to  it  before  the  white  men  came  ; 
and  for  many  decades  after  the  Spanish  conquest  it  suffered  attacks 
from  pirates  by  sea  and  brigands  upon  land,  who  found  easy  hiding 
within  its  deep  forests. 

ATTACKS    AND    INVASIONS    BY    FOREIGN    FORCES. 

In  1595,  San  Juan  was  sacked  by  the  English  under  Drake,  and 
again,  three  years  later,  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  In  1615, 
Baldwin  Heinrich,  a  Dutchman,  lost  his  life  in  an  attack  upon  the 
governor's  castle,  and  several  of  his  ships  were  destroyed  by  a  hurri 
cane.  The  English  failed  to  capture  it,  fifty-three  years  later ;  and 
Abercrombie  tried  it  again  in  1797,  but  had  to  give  up  the  under 
taking  after  a  three  days'  siege.  It  was  one  hundred  and  one  years 
after  Abercrombie's  siege,  before  another  hostile  fleet  appeared  before 
and  bombarded  San  Juan.  This  was  done  by  Admiral  Sampson, 
May  12,  1898,  with  the  United  States  squadron  of  modern  iron-clad 
battleships  and  cruisers.  In  this  engagement  Morro  Castle,  which, 
though  impregnable  a  hundred  years  before,  was  unable  to  withstand 
modern  guns,  and  was  in  a  large  part  reduced  to  ruins. 


THE  ISLAND  AND  ITS  POPULATION  445 

General  Nelson  A.  Miles  landed  his  United  States  troops  on 
the  island  in  July,  1898,  and  on  the  I2th  of  August,  before  he  com 
pleted  his  conquest,  hostilities  were  closed  by  the  protocol  of  peace, 
and  amid  the  rejoicing  of  the  natives  "Beautiful  Porto  Rico" 
became  a  province  of  the  United  States.  The  one  and  only  attempt 
the  Porto  Ricans  ever  made  to  throw  off  the  Spanish  yoke  was  in 
1820;  but  conditions  for  hiding  from  the  soldiers  were  not  so  good 
as  the  Cubans  enjoyed  in  their  large  island,  and  Spanish  supremacy 
was  completely  re-established  by  1823. 

THE    ISLAND    AND    ITS    POPULATION. 

Porto  Rico  is  at  once  the  most  healthful  and  most  densely  popu 
lated  island  of  the  West  Indies.  It  is  almost  rectangular  in  form— 
100  miles  long  and  36  broad.  Its  total  area  is  about  3,600  square 
miles — a  little  larger  than  the  combined  areas  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Delaware.  Its  population,  unlike  that  of  Cuba,  has  greatly  increased 
within  the  last  fifty  years.  In  1830,  it  numbered  319,000;  in  1887, 
813,937 — about  220  people  to  the  square  mile,  a  density  which  few 
States  of  the  Union  can  equal.  About  half  of  its  population  are 
negroes  or  mulattoes,  who  were  introduced  by  the  Spaniards  as  slaves 
in  the  i6th  and  I7th  centuries. 

Among  the  people  of  European  origin  the  most  numerous  are 
the  Spaniards,  with  many  Germans,  Swedes,  Danes,  Russians, 
FYenchmen,  Chuetos  (descendants  from  the  Moorish  Jews),  and 
natives  of  the  Canary  Islands.  There  are  also  a  number  of  Chinese, 
while  the  Gibaros,  or  small  land-holders  and  day-laborers  of  the 
country,  districts,  are  a  curious  old  Spanish  cross  with  the  aboriginal 
Indian  blood.  In  this  class  the  aborigines  are  more  fortunate  than 
the  original  Cubans  in  having  even  a  trace  of  their  blood  preserved. 

This  island  is  said  to  be  capable  of  easily  supporting  three  times 
its  present  population,  the  soil  is  so  universally  fertile  and  its  resour 
ces  are  so  well  diversified.  Though  droughts  occur  in  certain  parts 
of  the  island,  it  is  all  extremely  well  watered,  by  more  than  one  thou 
sand  streams,  enumerated  on  the  maps,  and  the  dry  sections  have  a 
system  of  irrigation  which  may  be  operated  very  effectually  and  with 
little  expense.  Of  the  1,300  streams,  forty-seven  are  considerable 
rivers. 


446  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

Forests  still  cover  all  the  elevated  parts  of  the  hill  country  of 
the  interior,  the  inhabitants  living  mostly  along  the  coast.  The 
main  need  to  set  the  interior  teeming  with  a  thrifty  and  healthy 
population  is  a  system  of  good  roads.  The  interior,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  a  few  extensive  savannas,  is  one  vast  expanse  of  rounded 
hills,  covered  with  such  rich  soil  that  they  may  be  cultivated  to  their 
summits.  At  present  these  forests  are  accessible  only  by  mule, 
tracks.  "The  timber  of  the  island,"  says  our  official  report,  "com  ! 
prises  more  than  five  hundred  varieties  of  trees,  and  in  the  more  ele 
vated  regions  the  vegetation  of  the  temperate  zones  is  not  unknown. 
On  the  hills  is  found  a  luxuriant  and  diversified  vegetation,  tree-ferns 
and  mountain  palms  being  abundant.  At  a  lower  level  grow  many 
varieties  of  trees  noted  for  their  useful  woods,  such  as  the  mahogany, 
cedar,  walnut  and  laurel.  The  mammee,  guaiacum  and  copal, 
besides  other  trees  and  shrubs  valuable  for  their  gum,  flourish  in  all 
parts  of  the  island.  The  coffee  tree  and  sugar  cane,  both  of  which 
grow  well  at  an  altitude  of  a  thousand  feet  or  more,  were  introduced 
into  the  island — the  former  from  Martinique  in  1722,  the  latter  from 
the  Canaries,  through  Santo  Domingo.  Tobacco  grows  easily  in  the 
lowlands,  while  maize,  pineapples,  bananas,  etc.,  are  all  prolific.  The 
banana  and  plantain  bear  fruit  within  ten  months  after  planting,  and, 
like  the  cocoa  palm,  live  through  an  ordinary  lifetime." 

MINERALS    AND    MINING. 

"  The  mineral  resources  of  the  island,"  says  our  consul  in  his 
report,  "have  been  very  little  developed,  the  only  mineral  industry 
of  any  importance  being  the  salt  works  situated  at  Guanica,  Salinas 
and  Cabo  Rojo.  Sulphides  of  copper  and  magnetic  oxides  of  iron 
are  found  in  large  quantities,  and  formerly  gold  to  a  considerable 
extent  was  found  in  many  of  the  streams.  At  present  the  natives 
still  wash  out  nuggets  by  the  crude  process  in  use  in  the  time  of 
Ponce  de  Leon.  Marble,  carbonates,  lignite  and  amber  are  also  pre 
sent  in  varying  quantities,  and  hot  springs  and  mineral  waters  occur, 
the  best  known  ones  being  at  Coamo,  near  Santa  Isabel." 

The  commerce  of  Porto  Rico  amounted,  in  1896,  to  $36,624,120, 
exceeding  the  records  of  all  previous  years  ;  the  increase,  no  doubt, 
being  largely  due  to  the  unsettled  condition  of  Cuba,  The  value  of 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  447 

the  exports  for  the  same  year  was,  for  the  first  time  for  more  than  a 
decade,  slightly  in  excess  of  that  of  the  imports  ;  the  former  being 
valued  at  $18,341,430,  the  latter  at  $18,282,690.  The  chief  exports 
from  the  island  are  agricultural  products.  The  principal  articles  are 
sugar,  coffee,  molasses  and  tobacco ;  while  rice,  wheat,  flour  and 
manufactured  articles  are  among  the  chief  imports.  The  value  of 
the  sugar  and  molasses  exported  to  the  United  States  during  the  ten 
years  from  1888  to  1897  made  up  95  per  cent,  of  the  total  value  of 
the  exports  to  that  country.  Fruits,  nuts  and  spices  are  also  ex 
ported  to  a  small  extent.  Of  the  non-agricultural  exports,  the  most 
important  are  perfumery  and  cosmetics ;  chemicals,  drugs  and  dyes ; 
unmanufactured  wood  and  salt. 

The  leading  article  of  import  from  the  United  States  is  wheat 
flour.  Corn  and  meal,  bread,  biscuit,  meats,  dairy  products,  wood 
and  its  manufactures,  iron,  steel,  etc.,  are  also  imported. 

GENERAL  HENRY  REORGANIZES  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

When  the  American  forces  took  possession  of  the  island  a 
change  was  immediately  felt,  pointing  toward  a  new  era  of  success  in 
every  branch  of  trade.  General  Guy  V.  Henry,  "  Fighting  Guy," 
as  he  is  called,  was  appointed  and  established  Military  Governor  of 
Porto  Rico.  He  immediately  set  out  to  reorganize  the  affairs  of  the 
Government.  How  he  succeeded  is  told  by  Major  George  W.  Fish- 
back,  Chief  Paymaster  of  the  Department  of  Porto  Rico,  as  follows  : 

"  The  management  of  the  island  and  its  affairs  commands  the 
admiration  of  both  natives  and  Americans.  Major-General  Guy  V. 
Henry,  who  is  Military  Governor  has  proved  himself  to  be  most 
acceptable  to  both.  He  is  a  forceful  man  and  full  of  the  kindliest 
sympathies  for  the  native  people.  He  has  surrounded  himself  with  a 
cabinet  made  up  of  the  most  intelligent  men  of  the  island,  and  through 
them,  as  representatives  of  the  different  branches  of  the  Government, 
he  rules  the  island  firmly  and  justly.  He  summoned  the  leaders  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  conveyed  to  them  the  fact  that  he 
proposed  to  have  perfect  freedom  of  religious  worship  in  Porto 
Rico  ;  that  he  would  not  tolerate  any  interference  with  the  affairs  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  nor  would  he  allow  that  Church  to  inter 
fere  with  free  religious  worship  on  the  part  of  the  Protestant  denomi- 


448  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

nations.  He  furthermore  served  notice  upon  the  Archbishop  that  he 
would  expel  from  the  island  any  priest,  or  body  of  priests,  who  openly 
or  in  underhanded  ways  made  any  effort  to  influence  the  native 
people  in  questions  of  religious  worship. 

"  I  asked  the  Minister  of  Justice  the  other  day  in  what  esteem 
General  Henry  was  held  among  the  best  people  in  Government 
circles,  and  he  replied  that  he  was  very  well  liked,  but  was  open  to 
criticism  of  making  his  Cabinet  officers  do  more  work  than  they  were 
accustomed  to.  The  idea  of  working  hours  a  day,  with  only  a  short 
interruption  for  a  midday  breakfast,  was  something  that  Porto  Rican 
business  men  are  not  accustomed  to. 

UNDER    PERFECT    CONTROL. 

"  The  whole  island  is  under  the  most  perfect  control,  under 
General  Henry's  military  supervision.  Disturbers  of  the  peace  have 
felt  the  weight  of  his  iron  hand  and  now  appreciate  the  fact  that  an 
offender  will  be  dealt  with  quickly  and  severely  if  he  commits  an 
offence  against  either  public  health  or  morals.  The  post  office  ser 
vice  is  being  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  island,  and  letters  mailed  in 
San  Juan  one  evening  are  delivered  in  Ponce  the  following  night. 
General  Frederick  D.  Grant  is  in  command  of  the  district  of  San 
Juan,  and,  as  a  result  of  many  inspection  trips  throughout  his  part  of 
the  island,  has  the  military  body  in  excellent  condition.  There  is  no 
sickness  to  speak  of  in  any  of  the  camps." 

General  Henry,  immediately  upon  taking  charge  of  affairs,  issued 
a  formal  letter  to  the  Presidents  and  Secretarys  of  the  Council  there, 
announcing  what  his  program  would  be  for  the  Government  of  the 
island.  In  this  statement  he  says,  that  as  far  as  possible  he  wishes 
to  give  independence  of  action  to  the  Alcaldes  and  Consuls  in  the 
various  towns,  and,  after  the  selection  of  these  officers,  to  hold  them 
responsible  for  the  condition  of  affairs.  He  orders  them  to  see  that 
the  town  is  kept  in  proper  police  law  and  order,  to  introduce  sanitary 
regulations,  to  obtain  in  the  absence  of  a  sewer  system,  the  odorless 
system  of  carts,  used  in  the  United  States,  to  see  that  there  are  no 
overcrowded  houses,  and  that  cleanliness  is  kept  up,  taxing  those 
people  who  refuse  to  observe  the  orders  for  health.  He  commends  the 
introduction  of  a  water  supply  and  frequent  flushings  of  the  streets. 


UNDER  PERFECT  CONTROL  449 

The  choice  of  City  officials  he  leaves  entirely  to  the  people 
themselves  under  certain  restrictions.  The  men  chosen  are  not  to  be 
removed  except  for  cause,  such  as  inefficiency,  failure  to  do  their 
duty,  or  crookedness. 

In  this  letter  he  takes  up  the  system  of  education  as  follows  : 

"  The  system  of  school  education  should  be  looked  into,  and  it  is 
my  desire  to  ascertain  how  many  teachers  they  can  pay  who  can  teach 
the  American  or  English  language,  beginning  with  the  younger  chil 
dren.  It  is  believed  that  people  who  can  speak  English  only  can 
accomplish  the  purpose  by  object  lessons.  It  is  thought  that  Ameri 
can  women  for  teaching  can  be  obtained  at  $50  per  month  in  gold, 
and  they  are  well  worth  it.  The  young  children  are  anxious  to  learn 
and  now  is  the  time  for  them  to  do  so.  If  Alcaldes  will  report  to  me 
how  many  teachers  they  can  so  employ  they  will  be  brought  from  the 
United  States  and  sent  to  these  towns. 

"  It  is  also  my  desire  to  introduce,  as  soon  as  possible,  policemen, 
so  as  to  teach  the  native  policemen  what  their  duties  are,  and  also  to 
encourage  them  to  exercise  some  authority,  which  at  present  they 
seem  not  desirous  of  doing.'' 

He  further  says  that  men  should  not  be  put  in  jail  except  upon 
definite  charges  and  upon  proper  evidence,  and  gives  certain  restric 
tions  as  to  the  punishment  of  criminals.  The  matter  of  customs  and 
the  value  of  money  he  leaves  to  the  Congress.  He  restricts  articles  in 
newspapers  of  an  incendiary  character  reflecting  upon  the  Govern 
ment  or  its  officials,  and  he  goes  on  to  say:  "  Upon  my  assuming 
command,  the  cabinet  selected  by  General  Brooke  handed  in  their 
resignations  so  as  to  leave  me  free  to  act.  I  consider  it  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  island  to  retain  those  gentlemen  in  office  until  I  have 
some  reason  for  relieving  them,  for  I  believe  they  are  capable  men 
and  have  the  good  of  the  island  at  heart,  and  in  their  actions  are  gov 
erned  simply  by  the  interest  of  the  island  rather  than  by  personal 
motives.  It  is  the  intention  that  the  soldiers  so  far  as  possible  shall 
preserve  law  and  order,  but  as  in  the  United  States  the  soldiers  are 
not  needed,  so  the  idea  now  is  to  educate  the  people  to  take  care  of 
themselves." 

Such  was  the  opinion  of  General  Henry  when  he  took  charge, 
and  the  result  was  better  than  anyone  hoped.  As  this  is  being 


450  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

written,  Aguadilla,  on  the  west  coast,  is  the  only  city  under  a  Military 
Mayor  ;  all  of  the  others  have  a  native  in  charge.  Captain  T,  W. 
Mansfield  took  charge  of  that  town,  not  because  of  disruption  among 
the  people,  but  because  of  a  deadlock  and  corruption  in  the  town 
council.  He  was  in  charge  for  one  month  up  to  March  ist,  and  then 
a  new  set  of  councilmen  was  elected,  but  these  city  fathers,  instead  of 
voting  for  some  native  to  act  as  Mayor,  begged  that  Captain  Mans 
field  continue  in  charge.  He  was  very  popular  with  everybody. 

DISHONESTY    OF    OFFICIALS. 

When  he  took  the  office  he  discovered  a  system  of  corruption  in 
the  government  of  the  place  which  demanded  an  immediate  reform. 
No  sooner  was  he  seated  than  a  clerk  brought  in  a  number  of  docu 
ments  for  him  to  sign.  "  What  are  these  ?"  asked  the  Captain.  "  Re 
ceipts  for  February,"  said  the  clerk.  "  Has  the  money  been  paid  <*'' 
"  Not  yet,  sir." 

This  opened  the  Captain's  eyes,  and  he  soon  found  out  how 
officials  had  made  money  without  much  work.  This  was  the  plan  : 
The  previous  Mayors  signed  Treasury  receipts  sufficient  to  pay  all 
day-laborers  employed  by  the  city  for  a  month  in  advance.  As  they 
were  dated  a  month  ahead  they  could  not  be  cashed  by  the  workmen 
until  that  time  had  expired.  So  when  a  laborer  needed  a  loaf  of 
bread,  he  was  forced  to  sell  this  order  for  money  at  a  big  discount, 
and  the  city  officials  personally  bought  them  in.  They  would  give 
$30  for  a  $40  slip,  and  when  it  became  due,  they  would  cash  it  and 
pocket  the  difference,  $10,  and  there  would  be  no  record  on  the  books 
of  any  crookedness,  although  the  poor  laborer  had  been  cheated  out 
of  $10.  It  did  not  take  long  to  correct  that  trouble,  and  it  served  as 
a  warning  that  Porto  Rican  officials  were  not  the  most  honest  crea 
tures  in  the  world. 

A    MONUMENT    TO    A    SPANISH    SOLDIER. 

At  Yauco,  Captain  C.  A.  Vernon  has  made  himself  exceedingly 
popular  with  the  natives  and  has  organized  a  street-cleaning  depart 
ment,  strengthened  the  police  force,  and  made  the  merchants  inter 
ested  in  a  village  improvement  association.  Right  outside  of  the  vil 
lage  is  a  little  monument  which  bears  the  following  inscription  :  "In 


LIFE  IN  THE  SMALLER  TOWNS  451 

memory  of  a  Spanish  soldier  killed  in  action  with  United  States 
troops,  July  27,  1898.  Presented  by  officers  of  Yauco  Post,  First 
Battalion,  Nineteenth  Infantry." 

In  the  capital  of  the  island  American  officers  are  to  be  found  in 
the  Department  of  Justice,  of  Finance,  the  Engineering  Department, 
and  the  Educational  and  Health  Boards.  They  are  simply  assigned 
to  duty  there  in  order  to  introduce  American  methods. 

When  the  United  States  took  charge  of  the  Treasury  at  San 
Juan,  the  capital  of  Porto  Rico,  investigation  showed  that  the  insular 
Treasury  held  76  cents  in  copper,  $3.80  in  Venezuelan  gold  and  about 
$900  in  American  bankbills.  This  was  a  great  surprise,  as  there 
should  have  been  at  least  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  deposited 
to  the  credit  of  a  general  guarantee  fund.  Investigation  showed  that 
at  least  $200,000  was  missing  from  that  fund,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  full  amount  which  should  be  there  is  nearly  500,000  pesos,  between 
$300,000  and  $400,000.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  money  was 
taken  to  Spain.  It  is  generally  known  that  the  late  Captain-General 
Macias  delivered  to  the  Government  at  Madrid  91,000  pesos,  and 
that  the  Brigadier  de  Marina  Vallarino  delivered  to  his  Government 
46,000  pesos  which  rightfully  belonged  to  Porto  Rico  and  which  were 
drawn  from  this  guarantee  fund. 

The  Spanish  Bank  of  Porto  Rico  was  found  to  be  in  arrears  to 
the  Government,  and  it  was  forced  to  pay  to  the  Treasury  20,000 
pesos  collected  on  account  of  taxes  and  revenues,  and  will  be  forced 
to  meet  further  obligations. 

LIFE    IN    THE    SMALLER    TOWNS. 

A  glimpse  of  the  life  in  one  of  the  smaller  towns  of  this  island 
is  not  uninteresting.  Take,  for  instance,  Adjuntas,  which  is  one  of 
the  places  about  which  little  is  known,  consequently  it  may  be  taken 
as  a  representative  small  town.  It  is  an  exceedingly  pretty  little 
place  with  a  square  plaza  in  the  centre  filled  with  beautiful  roses, 
palms  and  flowering  bushes.  It  has  several  nice  stores  which  sell 
shoes  and  clothes  and, liquor.  The  stores  generally  carry  very  few 
dry  goods,  as  the  people  depend  chiefly  on  the  venders  who  go  round 
the  streets  with  their  baskets  on  their  heads  selling  anything  from  a 
baby's  rubber  ring  to  a  very  pretty  dress. 


452  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

All  the  saloons,  or  casinos,  as  the  Porto  Ricans  call  them,  have 
gambling  rooms  attached,  for  Porto  Rico  is  a  great  gambling  place. 

Little  fruit  stands  may  be  found  on  every  corner,  and  the  price 
of  oranges  and  bananas  is  absurdly  cheap.  The  people  are  dark  in 
color,  for  even  the  Porto  Ricans  of  the  better  class  have  a  tinge  of 
Negro  blood  in  their  veins,  while  the  lowest  classes  show  strong  traces 
of  Indian  blood. 

The  people  are  for  the  most  part  lazy  and  dirty.  They  never 
bathe,  and  they  always  wear  the  same  clothes.  Their  chief  food  is 
plantains,  a  kind  of  banana,  which  they  boil,  and  oranges  and  bread. 
Meat  is  very  expensive,  and  therefore  little  used.  During  the  coffee 
season  the  workers  picking  coffee  receive  about  30  cents  a  day.  At 
the  end  of  the  season,  instead  of  looking  for  more  work,  they  gamble 
away  the  little  they  have  saved,  and  when  it  is  gone  they  steal.  The 
people  bury  their  dead  in  a  rude  box  shaped  like  a  coffin,  and  some 
times,  if  they  have  not  enough  money  for  this,  they  rent  a  coffin  for 
the  occasion.  Some  of  the  coffins  are  not  even  painted.  Four  men 
carry  the  box  on  their  shoulders  for  many  miles,  and  relief  pallbearers 
take  the  places  of  the  others  when  they  get  tired.  The  body  is  taken 
to  a  church  and  then  to  the  cemetery,  where,  if  the  coffin  is  not  rented, 
it  is  buried.  If  the  coffin  is  rented,  however,  the  body  is  taken  out 
and  buried  right  in  the  ground. 

AT    A    COCKFIGHT. 

Porto  Rico  is  a  great  place  for  cockfights.  The  season  is  from 
November  until  April,  and  Sunday  is  the  chief  day  for  the  sport. 
Every  village,  however  small,  or  however  how  far  up  in  the  moun 
tains,  has  a  pit  dug  in  the  earth  and  covered  with  a  wooden  roof  to 
keep  out  the  sun  in  the  dry  season  and  the  rain  in  the  wet.  The 
spectators  sit  around  on  rough  board  seats,  and  yell  at  the  top  of 
their  lungs.  They  become  so  excited,  and  howl  so  vigorously,  that 
they  sometimes  scare  the  birds  so  that  they  turn  and  flee.  In  betting 
the  men  never  deposit  their  money.  All  wagers  are  paid  at  the  end 
of  the  afternoon  fights,  A  man  has  to  call  out  his  bet  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  and  his  ears  or  eyes  must  then  catch  the  answer.  There  is 
no  pit  at  San  Juan,  because  that  city  is  so  overcrowded.  But  across 
the  harbor  in  Catano  there  is  a  place  where  all  the  sportsmen  congre- 


LAND  IS  EXPENSIVE  453 

gate.  Ten  coppers  is  the  fare  and  a  native  sailboat  takes  the  gamblers 
over.  Admission  is  20  cents.  In  Ponce  there  is  a  place  owned  by  a 
wealthy  Spaniard.  Behind  the  rickety  board-fence  he  keeps  more 
than  a  hundred  game-birds  worth  from  $3.00  to  $200  each.  Half  a 
dozen  negroes  take  care  of  his  gamestock,  clipping  their  feathers, 
polishing  their  spurs,  and  feeding  them. 

The  island  offers  great  inducements  for  profitable  investment. 
It  needs,  however,  good  judgment,  carefulness,  and  plenty  of  capital 
to  get  anything  like  big  returns.  Agriculture  is  the  great  source  of 
wealth,  and  consequently  the  prosperity  of  the  island  depends  on 
the  success  of  the  crops.  It  also  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
that  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  produce  about  the  same  kind  of  crops, 
and,  unless  Porto  Rico  is  given  extraordinary  tax  advantages  over 
Cuba,  the  latter  will  have  the  advantage  of  being  so  much  nearer  and 
better  situated  in  respect  to  the  American  market,  and  also  is  capable 
of  much  larger  and  consequently  much  cheaper  production. 

LAND    IS    VERY    EXPENSIVE. 

Land  is  expensive  in  Porto  Rico,  because  the  island  is  so  very 
thickly  populated,  and,  of  course,  since  the  occupation  by  the  Ameri 
cans,  the  price  has  gone  up  remarkably.  The  land  is  divided  into  four 
classes :  First-class  land  is  the  sugar  land,  the  second  class  the  coffee 
land  of  the  interior,  the  third  class  comprises  black  sandy  loam  ad 
joining  sugar  lands,  which  is  chiefly  used  for  truck  farms,  and  the 
fourth  class  comprises  the  sandy  beach  land,  where  cocoanuts  are 
planted.  Land  is  sold  by  the  cuerda,  which  is  equal  to  sixty-nine  yards 
square  in  our  measurement.  The  sugar  'lands  are  found  in  the  belt 
of  low  flat  land,  running  around  the  island  between  the  foothills  of 
the  mountains  and  the  sea.  First-class  property  has  been  known  to 
bring  $400  a  cuercla,  but  the  price  of  to-day  is  about  $150.  This 
represents  land  that  has  already  been  drained  and  ditched  and  is 
ready  for  planting.  The  coffee  plantations,  if  already  planted,  are 
considered  to  be  worth  about  $150  a  cuerda,  although  land  suitable 
for  raising  coffee,  if  not  planted,  may  be  bought  for  about  10  or  25 
pesos.  For  instance,  a  farm  of  500  cuerdas  is  advertised  for  sale  at 
9,000  pesos,  made  up  of  forty  cuerdas  already  set  out  with  young  coffee 
trees,  one  hundred  more  suitable  for  immediate  planting,  and  the 
25 


454  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

balance  in  woodland  and  pasture,  part  of  which  would  grow  fruits  and 
vegetables.  The  black  loam  of  the  third  class  varies  very  much  in 
value.  Some  farms  of  it  are  quite  expensive,  and  others  may  be 
bought  for  10  or  20  pesos,  depending  largely  on  the  location  in 
respect  to  the  seaports.  The  sandy  soil  for  cocoanut  planting  also 
ranges  from  5  to  25  pesos. 

THE    BEST    FIELDS    FOR    INVESTMENT. 

Orange  raising,  together  with  the  raising  of  pineapples  and 
bananas,  offers  the  best  field,  probably,  for  profitable  investment.  It 
is  a  field  that  may  be  developed  to  a  large  degree,  and,  if  the  results 
show  sufficient  production  to  warrant  a  line  of  fruit  steamers,  this 
industry  might  have  good  returns.  Sugar  depends  largely  upon  the 
laws  which  will  regulate  its  exportation.  The  Cuban  crop  will  be  its 
greatest  rival.  The  tobacco  of  the  island  is  of  excellent  quality, 
although  it  has  been  very  badly  harvested  and  cured  of  late.  Here 
is  an  example  of  what  may  be  realized  from  a  good  tobacco  farm  : 
A  farm  of  100  cuerdas  produced  in  one  year  $12,000  in  gold,  and  cost 
the  owner  $3,000  for  cultivation  and  general  expenses. 

In  regard  to  the  prospects  for  the  future,  Frank  A.  Vanderlip, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  was  sent  there  to  look  into 
currency  and  custom  problems,  says:  "The  people  are  delighted  to 
be  Americans,  and  there  is  every  prospect  of  prosperity  for  our  new 
possession.  Whatever  mineral  wealth  there  is,  is  wholly  undeveloped, 
and  the  agricultural  possibilities  are,  apparently,  boundless.  Only  a 
portion  of  the  land  is  under  cultivation.  There  are  no  water  works, 
sewers,  electric  lights,  or  electric  railways.  There  is  a  good  field  for 
electric  roads  throughout  the  island.  With  the  exception  of  the  mili 
tary  road,  there  is  no  railroad  of  any  kind  in  Porto  Rico.  The  fran 
chise  seekers  and  promoters  in  general,  who  rushed  to  the  island 
almost  before  the  American  troops  were  landed,  have  begun  to  give 
place  to  a  more  solid  and  promising  class.  Undoubtedly  capital  will 
begin  to  seek  investment  there  soon.  There  is  no  field  for  a  man 
without  capital  on  account  of  the  high  prices  for  land." 

In  regard  to  the  mineral  resources  of  the  island,  Robert  T.  Hill, 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  reports  that  the  conditions 
are  theoretically  favorable  for  valuable  iron  deposits,  and,  in  one  or 


MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  THE  ISLAND  455 

two  instances  these  undoubtedly  exist,  notably  north  of  J uncos.  At 
this  place  there  is  a  large  deposit  of  magnetic  iron  ore  of  great 
purity,  containing  66  per  cent,  of  iron  and  less  than  .023  of  phos 
phorous.  A  French  engineer  has  calculated  that  there  are  at  least 
35,000  tons  of  this  ore  in  sight.  At  present  it  is  many  miles  from  a 
seaport,  and  its  development  will  necessitate  the  construction  of  a 
railway.  In  Mr.  Hill's  opinion  this  deposit  is  the  most  valuable 
metallic  resource  of  the  island  at  present  in  sight,  and  American 
capital  will  develop  it.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  deposit  contains 
10,000,000  tons  of  metallic  iron. 

MINERAL    RESOURCES    OF    THE    ISLAND. 

The  best-known  iron  mines,  which  are  already  in  operation,  are 
situated  in  the  Sierra  Maestra,  a  few  miles  east  of  Santiago,  and  are 
owned  by  American  companies.  There  are  als  )  rich  deposits  of 
manganese  in  the  same  range  of  mountains.  The  mines  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Ponupo  yielded  200  tons  a  day  before  they  were  closed 
by  the  insurgents. 

There  is  also  plenty  of  asphaltum  of  great  richness  beneath  the 
waters  of  Cardenas  Bay  and  in  several  other  places.  Ne^r  Villa 
Clara  is  an  unusually  rich  deposit,  which  has  supplied  the  material  for 
illuminating  gas  for  the  city  for  forty  years.  The  copper  mines  of 
Cobre,  about  twelve  leagues  north  of  Santiago,  used  to  be  the  greatest 
copper  mines  in  the  world,  back  in  1867,  and  it  is  generally  believed 
that  large  quantities  of  the  ore  still  exist  in  that  locality,  although 
the  mines  themselves  have  been  filled  up  with  water,  and  it  is  a  ques 
tion  whether  they  can  be  profitably  reopened. 

Near  Juana  Diaz  is  a  belt  of  beautiful  marble  of  great  hardness. 
It  is  variegated  in  color,  consisting  of  a  reddish  matrix,  mottled  with 
small  white  spots.  At  present  it  is  only  used  for  structural  purposes, 
such  as  piers  for  bridges.  Green  sand  marl  occurs  in  great  abund 
ance  on  the  road  from  Lares  to  San  Sebastian,  immediately  adjoining 
the  most  productive  coffee  region.  Lime  marls  abound  everywhere 
around  the  coast,  and  gypsum  marls  occur  near  Juana  Diaz  adjacent 
to  the  Rio  Portugues  and  near  Ponce.  These  are  especially  import 
ant  in  as  much  as  these  natural  fertilizers  will  play  a  large  part  in  the 
agricultural  development  of  the  island. 


456  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

Gold  is  found  along  the  bed  of  streams  but  only  in  small  quanti 
ties,  and  Mr.  Hill  does  not  think  that  any  quartz  veins  will  be  found. 

Salt  deposits  exist  and  there  are  some  thermal  springs  which  arc 
said  to  be  of  great  value  in  curing  skin  diseases  and  rheumatic 
troubles. 

OUR    TRADE    WITH    PORTO    RICO. 

A  word  or  two  about  our  trade  with  Porto  Rico  may  not  be 
amiss.  Frank  H.  Hitchcock  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  has 
recently  made  an  investigation,  into  the  exports  and  imports  of  Porto 
Rico.  His  report  shows  that  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1897, 
the  commercial  transactions  between  this  country  and  Porto  Rico 
amounted  to  $4,169,912,  and,  with  exception  of  1895,  when  the  value 
of  trade  fell  to  $3,340,056,  this  was  the  smallest  recorded  for  any 
year  since  the  Civil  War.  The  high  water  mark  in  our  trade  with 
Porto  Rico  was  reached  way  back  in  1872,  in  which  the  imports  and 
exports  had  a  combined  value  of  $13,870,925. 

Products  of  agriculture  play  the  most  important  part  in  our 
commerce  with  Porto  Rico,  comprising  in  value  more  than  80  per 
cent,  of  the  merchandise  imported  and  exported.  Among  these  pro 
ducts  sugar  is  by  far  the  most  important.  Measured  in  value  it  com 
prised  nearly  75  per  cent,  of  all  the  merchandise  we  received  from  the 
island  during  the  ten  years  up  to  1897,  and  if  the  value  of  the  mo 
lasses  be  also  included  the  combined  item  would  form  more  than  95 
per  cent,  of  the  total  imports.  After  these,  coffee  is  the  most  im 
portant,  while  fruits,  nuts  and  spices  make  up  the  rest  of  the  imports. 

The  annual  receipts  of  sugar  during  1893  a°d  1897  averaged 
79,941,404  pounds,  valued  at  $1,980,460.  That  of  molasses  2,445,897 
gallons  valued  at  $558,042.  The  annual  average  imports  for  the  past 
five  years  in  coffee  amounted  to  only  164,769  pounds,  worth  $32,671. 

In  regard  to  exports  the  United  States  has  chiefly  sent  to  Porto 
Rico  breadstuffs  and  meat  products,  their  combined  value  represent 
ing  nearly  95  per  cent,  of  the  whole  volume  of  agricultural  exports. 
Wheat  flour  is  the  chief  breadstuff  exported  during  the  five  years, 
1893  to  J897-  The  average  number  of  barrels  shipped  per  annum 
was  148,487,  valued  at  $570,619. 

During  the  same  period  our  exports  of  wood  and  its  manufac 
tures  reached  an  annual  value  of  $292,336.  Our  exports  of  iron  and 


CHIEF  TOWNS  OF  PORTO  RICO  457 

steel  manufactures  during  the  year  1897  were  larger  than  ever  before, 
and  amounted  to  $180,486. 

There  are  plenty  of  harbors  along  the  coast  of  Porto  Rico,  but 
those  on  the  north  side  are  mostly  unprotected  from  the  trade  winds, 
and  those  on  the  west  side  are  filled  with  sand.  The  whole  of  the 
north  coast  is  lined  with  navigable  lagoons,  some  of  which  are  nearly 
ten  miles  in  length.  Of  the  twenty-one  rivers,  most  are  quite  small, 
but  several  of  them  can  be  navigated  for  five  or  six  miles.  A  num 
ber  of  the  bays  and  creeks  are  deep  enough  for  vessels  of  consider 
able  size,  but  the  north  coast  is  subject  to  tremendous  ground  seas 
which  drift  against  the  cliffs  with  great  violence. 

CHIEF    TOWNS    OF    PORTO    RICO. 

The  exporting  towns  are  Mayaguez,  San  German  and  Agua- 
dilla,  on  the  west,  and  Guanica,  Guayanilla,  and  Puerto  Ponce  on  the 
south.  The  eastern  part  of  the  island  is  less  important  commercially. 

The  capital  of  the  island  is  San  Juan.  It  is  situated  on  a  long 
narrow  island,  separated  from  the  mainland  at  one  end  by  a  shallow 
arm  of  the  sea.  There  is  a  bridge  connecting  this  end  with  the 
mainland,  while  the  other  extremity  ends  in  a  great  high  bluff,  which 
is  crowned  by  Morro  Castle,  the  chief  fort  of  the  town.  Back  of  this 
bluff  is  a  magnificent  bay  with  a  good  depth  of  water.  It  is  one  of 
the  best  harbors  in  the  West  Indies.  The  town  itself,  built  over  250 
years  ago,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  old  walled  town,  having  a  port 
cullis,  moat,  gates  and  battlements,  which  must  have  cost  millions  of 
dollars.  The  city  is  laid  off  in  regular  squares,  with  six  parallel 
streets  running  the  length  of  the  island  and  seven  at  right  angles  with 
these.  The  city  is  devoid  of  running  water  and  depends  entirely 
upon  rain  water  which  is  caught  upon  the  tops  of  the  buildings  and 
kept  in  cisterns.  There  is  no  sewage  system,  and  the  risks  of  con 
taminating  the  water  supply  are  very  great,  while  in  dry  season  the 
supplies  are  frequently  exhausted. 

The  town  is  very  much  overcrowded.  It  is  surprising  to  see  the 
great  number  of  poor  who  are  packed  like  rats  in  a  garret  in  the 
tenements  in  the  upper  part  of  the  place,  and  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  rent  for  residential  purposes  second  stories  that  are  not  directly 
over  people  who  live  in  squalor,  foul  air  and  confusion.  As  may  be 


458  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

imagined,  dwelling  houses  are  expensive,  and  our  soldiers  found  great 
trouble  in  securing  quarters. 

It  can  be  seen  readily  that  in  the  absence  of  a  good  water  supply 
and  a  sewage  system,  and  with  people  packed  together  in  such  a  man 
ner,  epidemics  of  disease  are  frequent.  The  Spaniards  once  started  an 
expensive  system  of  aqueducts  costing  $400,000,  and  issued  municipal 
bonds  for  that  purpose,  but  the  work  was  never  completed.  The 
piping  was  almost  finished,  however,  and  steps  are  now  being  taken 
to  push  the  work  oh  a  stone  supply  reservoir  to  be  erected  in  the 
northern  and  highest  part  of  the  city  which  would  ultimately  be  used 
in  connection  with  the  unfinished  aqueduct.  It  will  take  at  least  a 
year  to  complete  this  reservoir,  and  even  then  it  will  hold  less  than 
3,000,000  gallons,  which  would  only  last  the  city  five  days. 

The  streets  of  the  city  are  wider  than  those  in  the  older  part  of 
Havana  and  admit  two  carriages  abreast.  The  pavements  are  good, 
but  made  of  material  which  is  easily  broken.  Besides  the  portion  of 
the  town  within  the  walls,  there  are  small  portions  just  outside  called 
the  Marina  and  Porta  de  Tierra,  each  of  which  have  about  3,000 
inhabitants.  There  are  also  two  suburbs,  San  Turce  approached  by 
the  only  road  leading  out  of  the  city,  and  the  other  Catano,  which 
may  be  reached  by  ferry  right  across  the  bay.  The  entire  population 
of  city  and  suburbs  is  about  30,000,  one  half  of  which  consists  of 
negroes  and  mixed  races. 

THE   CITY    OF    PONCE. 

The  city  of  Ponce,  with  a  population  of  37,500,  and  in  commercial 
importance  next  to  the  largest  city  of  Porto  Rico,  is  situated  on  the 
south  coast  of  the  island  about  two  miles  from  the  sea,  and  about 
seventy  miles  from  the  capital.  It  is  one  of  the  healthiest  cities  of 
Porto  Rico  and  is  regularly  built,  the  central  part  of  it  being  made  of 
brick  and  the  outside  part  of  wood.  Here  the  military  commander  of 
the  island  used  to  live.  It  has  an  appellate  criminal  court,  besides  other 
courts,  and  contains  two  hospitals,  a  military  station,  two  churches,  one 
of  which  is  the  only  Protestant  church  in  the  West  Indies,  a  good 
fire  department,  a  bank,  a  theatre,  three  hotels,  and  a  gas  works. 

The  chief  occupations  of  the  people  are  the  cultivation  of  sugar, 
cocoa,  tobacco  and  oranges  and  the  breeding  of  cattle.  The  port 


CITIES  AND  TOWNS  459 

which  is  connected  to  the  city  by  a  splendid  road  is  called  the  Playa. 
Here  all  the  import  and  export  trade  is  transacted,  and  here  is 
the  customhouse  and  all  the  consular  offices.  The  port  is  a  good 
one,  and  will  hold  vessels  of  25  feet  draft.  The  water  supply,  which 
is  conveyed  to  the  city  by  an  aqueduct,  is  ample  and  good. 

The  third  largest  city  of  Porto  Rico  is  Mayaguez.  It  is  situated 
in  the  western  part,  102  miles  from  San  Juan,  on  Mona  Channel. 
There  are  three  manufacturies  of  chocolate  there,  and  the  city  ex- 
ports  sugar,  coffee,  oranges,  pineapples  and  cocoanuts.  The  coffee  is 
of  the  best  quality  and  competes  with  Java  and  other  first-rate 
brands.  The  population  is  about  20,000,  the  majority  of  whom  are 
white.  The  city  is  connected  with  street  cars  with  the  town  of 
Aguadilla  hear  by,  and  a  railroad  is  being  built  to  Lares  in  the 
interior. 

Aguadilla  has  about  5,000  inhabitants.  Its  chief  industries  are 
the  cultivation  of  sugar,  coffee,  tobacco,  and  cocoanuts.  The  climate 
is  very  hot,  but  healthy.  The  city  is  a  port  for  a  district  which  has 
about  30,000  inhabitants. 

The  town  of  Arecibo  is  situated  on  the  northern  coast  of  Porto 
Rico,  facing  the  Atlantic.  It  is  much  the  same  in  construction  as 
other  Porto  Rican  towns,  with  a  plaza  in  the  centre  and  streets  run 
ning  at  right  angles  from  it.  The  harbor  is  not  a  good  one,  being 
exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the  ocean,  and  having  dangerous  reefs 
close  into  shore.  The  Rio  Grande  de  Arecibo  empties  into  the  har 
bor,  and  is  a  small,  shallow  stream  upon  which  goods  are  conveyed 
on  flat-bottom  boats  from  the  city  out  to  the  bar,  and  there  trans 
ferred  to  lighters  which  carry  them  over  to  the  vessels.  It  is,  how 
ever,  the  port  of  about  30,000  inhabitants,  and  is,  consequently,  an 
important  place,  although  the  town  itself  has  but  7,000  people 
in  it. 

Fajardo,  on  the  east  coast,  has  a  population  of  9,000.  It  is  a 
good  port,  with  a  lighthouse  at  the  entrance,  and  a  customhouse. 
The  town  itself  is  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from  the  bay.  Most  of  the 
people  of  the  district  manufacture  muscovado  sugar,  which  is  the 
chief  article  of  export.  The  climate  is  healthy. 

Naguabo,  on  the  east  side,  having  2,000  inhabitants,  Playa  de 
Nao-uabo,  with  1,500,  and  Humaco,  the  capital  of  the  district,  with 


460  PORTO  RICO— PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 

4,000,  Arroyo  in  the  district  of  Guayama  (southeast  portion),  with 
1,200  inhabitants,  are  the  other  well-known  cities  of  the  island. 

The  general  healthfulness  of  the  whole  island  gives  rise  to  the 
belief  that  it  will  become  a  splendid  winter  resort  in  the  future  under 
the  Stars  and  Stripes.  It  already  has  fame  in  that  connection,  and 
now,  with  its  new  affiliations,  the  personal  safety  and  comfort  of  visi 
tors  will  be  such  that  it  will  probably  be  the  land  of  refuge  when 
snow  and  sleet  chase  the  rich  from  their  homes  in  the  great  cities  of 
the  North. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

The  Heroes  of  1898  and  1899 

Something  About  the  Men  Who  Led  Our  Forces  on  to  the  Great  Victories  Achieved 
by  American  Arms. — Sketches  of  Dewey,  Sampson,  Schley,  Bob  Evans,  Captain 
Clarke,  Captain  Gridley,  Lieutenant  Hobson  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Wain- 
wright,  Who  Won  Fame  at  Sea,  and  Generals  Miles,  Shafter,  Wheeler  and  Lawton, 
and  Colonel  Roosevelt,  Who  Made  History  m  Cuba,  and  Generals  Merritt,  Otis 
and  MacArthur,  Who  Are  Adding  to  the  Army's  Laurels  in  the  Philippines. 

APART  from  all  other  considerations,  the  war  demonstrated  one 
thing,  and  that  is  there  are  heroes  of  more  than  common 
mould  in  our  country  who  are  ready  to  do  deeds  of  daring  for 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  any  call.  The  number  of  men  who  distin 
guished  themselves  during  the  conflict  with  Spain  and  the  Filipinos, 
not  only  in  the  ordinary  gallantry  of  war,  but  in  the  extraordinary 
heroism  of  leadership  is  unusually  large.  Both  army  and  navy  have 
contributed  to  this  roll  of  highest  honor.  Names  which  were  un 
known  to  the  great  majority  of  people,  are  now  household  words, 
and  will  live  when  those  who  made  them  illustrious  have  passed 
away. 

It  is  fitting,  as  we  close  this  review  of  the  most  wonderful  year 
in  the  history  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  other  nation,  that  we 
take  a  personal  view  of  some  of  the  renowned  leaders.  As  the  fight 
ing  was  begun  by  the  navy,  it  is  appiopriate  that  we  glance  first  at 
the  personnel  of  those  who  figured  prominently  in  our  naval  battles. 

ADMIRAL    GEORGE    DEWEY. 

There  is  no  name  which  comes  closer  to  the  hearts  of  the  people 
of  a  grateful  country  than  that  of  George  Dewey,  now  through  the 
special  legislation  of  Congress,  Admiral  of  the  Navy  of  the  United 
States.  Those  who  know  him,  those  who  have  met  him  in  his  long 
lifetime  of  service  have  reason  to  remember  the  force,  and  the 
strength  of  character  of  the  man  who  has  proved  himself  not  only  a 

(461) 


462  THE  HEROES  OF  1898  AND  1899 

fearless  fighter  and  commander,  but  a  statesman  of  rare  ability.  The 
personal  side  of  Admiral  Dewey  has  already  been  shown  to  the 
readers  of  this  volume  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  little  can  be  added 
to  what  has  already  been  said. 

ADMIRAL    W.    T.    SAMPSON. 

When  the  blockade  of  Havana  and  the  isolation  of  the  island  of 
Cuba  from  the  rest  of  the  world  was  decided  upon,  Captain  William 
T.  Sampson  was  placed  in  command  of  the  United  States  Naval 
forces  at  Key  West.  There  has  been,  and  no  doubt  will  continue  to 
be,  considerable  criticism  of  the  administration  for  placing  this  man 
in  charge  of  the  forces  over  the  head  of  other  officers  who  outranked 
him;  but  history  has  proved,  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  large  majority  of 
thinking  people,  that  William  T.  Sampson  was  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place  throughout  the  war.  It  was  to  his  foresight  and  watch 
fulness,  his  care  and  knowledge  that  the  nation  is  indebted  for  the 
speedy  termination  of  the  naval  part  of  the  war.  Admiral  Samp 
son  was  chosen  because  President  McKinley  and  Secretary  Long 
recognized  his  ability  to  act  with  good  clear  judgment,  and  to  do 
rather  than  to  say. 

As  an  ordnance  expert  he  has  a  world-wide  fame,  having  made 
executive  work  and  the  study  of  naval  science  the  absorbing  object 
of  his  career.  His  knowledge  of  modern  armor  and  armament  is 
such  that  he  has  been  of  immense  service  to  the  Government,  and  he  is 
equally  at  home  in  his  knowledge  of  the  use  and  comparative  value 
of  explosives.  Both  of  these  subjects  require  years  of  thought, 
hard  study  and  dangerous  experiment.  To  him,  with  others,  was 
entrusted  the  task  of  determining  the  policy  of  building  up  the  navy, 
and  his  advice  was  always  sought  when  the  Government  turned  its 
attention  to  the  building  of  ships.  His  keen  intellect  and  good  judg 
ment  inspired  confidence  in  all  who  knew  him,  and  so  this  student  of 
war  became  the  foremost  figure  in  the  naval  affairs  of  the  country. 

A  tall,  slim  man,  with  shoulders  a  trifle  rounded,  with  hair  and 
beard  heavily  touched  with  white,  with  eyes  deep  set  beneath 
strongly  marked  eyebrows,  and  a  quiet  thoughtful  expressive  face, 
such,  briefly,  is  William  T.  Sampson.  He  was  born  in  Palmyra,  New 
York,  February  9,  1840,  the  son  of  poor  and  hard-working  parents, 


ADMIRAL    W.   T.  SAMPSON  463 

who  knew  no  luxury  and  could  give  him  no  advantages.  His  educa 
tion  was  the  result  of  determination.  He  found  little  time  to  attend 
the  county  school,  but  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  push  himself 
along  and  so  nothing  could  keep  him  down. 

In  1857,  he  obtained  an  appointment  as  midshipman  in  the 
United  States  Naval  Academy,  and  four  years  afterwards  he  gradu 
ated  at  the  very  head  of  his  class.  He  was  so  young  when  the 
Civil  War  broke  out  that  he  could  not  take  a  command,  but  his  con 
duct  as  master  on  the  Frigate  Potomac  won  him  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  second  Lieutenant  in  1862.  He  served  on  the  practice  ship 
John  Adams  and  on  the  Colorado,  the  flagship  of  the  European 
Squadron. 

On  January  16,  1865,  he  was  ordered  as  executive  officer  on 
the  ironclad  Patapsco,  to  enter  Charleston  harbor,  before  which  the 
Union  ships  had  established  a  blockade,  and  to  remove  or  destroy 
all  submarine  mines  that  could  be  found.  The  task  was  a  dangerous 
one,  but  the  little  ironclad  pluckily  made  her  way  into  the  harbor 
through  a  storm  of  bullets  from  the  rifles  of  the  Confederate  sharp 
shooters.  Lieutenant  Sampson,  standing  on  the  bridge  in  the  most 
exposed  position,  saw  his  men  fall  before  the  fire,  but  he  did  not 
flinch.  Ordering  his  men  below,  he  himself  stayed  at  his  post,  a 
target  for  a  hundred  marksmen. 

Then  came  an  ominous  cessation  of  firing  as  the  Patapsco  moved 
forward.  A  moment  after,  a  terrific  explosion  shook  the  water  for 
miles  around  and  lifted  the  boat  clean  into  the  air.  Other  explosions 
quickly  followed  and  the  shattered  ironclad  sank  beneath  the  waters 
of  the  harbor.  Young  Sampson  was  rescued  about  100  feet  from  the 
wreck,  where  he  had  been  blown  by  the  explosion.  Twenty-five  of 
his  crew  were  also  saved,  but  seventy  men  met  death  in  the  brave 
attempt  to  do  their  duty. 

Sampson  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant-Commander  in  1866, 
while  on  the  Colorado.  He  was  at  the  Naval  Academy  from  1868  to 
1871,  and  on  the  Congress  in  1872  anp  1873  ;  was  made  Commander 
in  1874  and  assigned  to  the  Alert  \  then  from  1876  to  1878  he  was 
again  at  the  Naval  Academy.  In  1879  he  was  *n  China,  commanding 
the  Swatara.  He  commanded  at  other  times  both  the  Iowa  and  the 
San  Francisco.  He  was  chief  of  the  bureau  of  the  ordnance  from 


464  THE  HEROES  OF  \898  AND  iS99 

1893  to  1897,  in  which  position  he  did  such  constant  and  exhausting 
work  that  he  almost  wrecked  his  health. 

To  him  was  due  the  plan  which  prevented  Cervera's  fleet  from 
coming  out  from  Santiago  harbor  and  making  its  escape.  Unluckily 
when  the  Spanish  Commander  made  the  attempt  to  run  the  gantlet 
of  the  American  vessels  outside  of  the  harbor,  Admiral  Sampson 
was  some  distance  away,  too  far  in  fact  for  his  vessel  to  take  part 
in  the  annihilation  of  the  Spanish  warships,  but  his  plan  of  attack 
was  followed  out  and  to  him  therefore  the  successful  termination  of 
that  great  naval  battle  was  largely  due. 

ADMIRAL    WINFIELD    SCOTT    SCHLEY. 

The  great  rival  of  Admiral  Sampson  for  the  honors  in  the 
destruction  of  Cervera's  fleet  was  Winfield  Scott  Schley,  who  was  the 
ranking  officer  on  the  vessels  actually  engaged  in  the  fight  with  the 
Spanish  fleet.  He  was  born  in  Maryland,  near  Frederick,  in  1839, 
and  his  very  baptism  was  subject  to  military  influence,  for  just  at  this 
time  General  Winfield  Scott  was  in  Frederick  holding  Court  Martial, 
and  Schley 's  father,  who  had  served  in  the  navy  and  the  war  of  1812 
became  a  close  friend  of  the  General.  So  the  son  and  heir  of  the 
Schleys  was  baptized  Winfield  Scott. 

The  Schley  of  to-day  is  a  tall,  strong-looking  man  with  more 
muscle  than  flesh,  a  fair  complexion,  with  lightish  hair  and  a  gray 
moustache  and  goatee  which  give  him  an  air  of  vigor  and  almost 
fierceness.  He,  too,  is  a  product  of  the  Naval  Academy,  which  he 
left  in  1861,  graduating  at  the  top  of  his  class.  He  was  immediately 
given  shore  duty  on  the  frigate  Potomac,  and  in  1862  was  promoted 
to  Master  and  ordered  to  the  Winona  of  the  blockading  squadron,  of 
the  West  Gulf.  He  was  in  a  number  of  skirmishes  along  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  and  engaged  in  operating  with  field  batteries.  Under 
heavy  fire  Schley  aided  in  cutting  out  two  schooners  which  were  car 
rying  supplies  to  the  enemy.  For  this  he  was  honorably  mentioned 
in  special  orders.  He  became  a  Lieutenant  in  1862  ;  from  1864  to 
to  1866  he  was  an  executive  officer  of  a  steam  gunboat  on  which  he 
served  in  the  Pacific  Station. 

Schley  figured  in  the  insurrection  among  the  Chinese  Coolies  in 
the  Chin  Chi  Islands  in  1864.  In  1866  he  was  made  Lieutenant-Corn- 


CAPTAIN  CHARLES  EDGAR  CLARKE  465 

mander.  After  duty  at  the  Naval  Academy  for  three  years,  he  took 
part  in  the  overthrow  of  the  forces  defending  the  Salu  River,  in 
the  Corea.  He  spent  sometime  at  Annapolis  as  head  of  the  depart 
ment  of  modern  languages,  and,  when  made  Commander  in  1874, 
spent  five  years  on  the  North  and  South  Atlantic  Stations  and  the 
Western  Coast  of  Africa. 

He  was  in  command  of  the  Greely  relief  expedition  which 
safely  brought  Lieutenant  Greely  and  six  others  from  the  land  of 
the  North  Pole,  for  which  he  received  a  gold  medal  from  Congress 
and  was  promoted  to  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Equipment  with  rank  of 
Captain.  Later  he  resigned  and  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
cruiser  Baltimore.  That  vessel  figured  in  difficulties  at  Valparaiso, 
where  some  of  the  soldiers  were  stoned  by  Chileans,  and  for  a  time 
disagreeable  complications  with  that  country  threatened.  When  the 
war  broke  out,  Schley  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Flying  Squadron, 
and  the  work  done  by  him  in  the  defeat  of  Cervera's  fleet  is  told  in 
a  preceding  chapter. 

CAPTAIN    CHARLES    EDGAR    CLARKE. 

When  the  war  with  Spain  was  first  threatening,  the  battleship 
Oregon,  one  of  the  new  vessels  built  at  San  Francisco,  was  in  charge 
of  Captain  Charles  Edgar  Clarke,  and  was  fresh  out  of  the  dry  dock 
at  the  Naval  Station  at  Puget  Sound.  Word  was  sent  for  this  com 
paratively  unknown  fighter  to  join  the  other  vessels  of  the  American 
fleet  in  Atlantic  waters.  To  do  this  it  was  necessary  to  go  down  the 
west  coast  of  the  United  States,  Mexico,  Central  America  and  South 
America,  pass  through  the  straits  of  Magellan  and  come  almost  as  far 
up  the  east  coast  of  the  southern  continent  to  Key  West. 

It  was  a  voyage  filled  with  danger  and  uncertainty.  The  Spanish 
fleet  was  at  that  time  heading  toward  our  shores,  according  to  rumor, 
and  the  fear  was  that  the  Oregon  would  be  intercepted  on  her  way  up 
the  eastern  coast  of  South  America  and  would  be  sunk  or  captured 
by  the  Spanish  fleet  But  "  nothing  venture  nothing  have,"  so  the 
Oregon  left  San  Francisco  on  March  19,  1898,  on  a  journey  which  has 
never  been  equalled  in  the  annals  of  naval  history.  The  distance  to  be 
traveled  was  14,000  nautical  miles,  and  there  was  no  rest  in  sight  for 
the  men  or  for  the  vessel,  until  the  great  battleship  was  safely  anchored 


466  THE  HEROES  OF  i%98  AND  1899 

off  Key  West.  It  was  a  voyage  of  intense  excitement  and  anxiety  to 
all  on  board,  for  no  one  knew  at  what  moment  the  enemy  might  turn 
up.  The  engines  were  kept  working  away,  and  from  the  start  until 
May  24th,  when  the  Oregon  arrived  in  Jupiter  Inlet,  Florida,  she 
did  not  lose  one  day  or  one  hour  by  accident  to  machinery  or  for 
repairs.  She  completed  the  run  at  the  incredible  rate  of  1 1  knots  an 
hour  for  the  whole  14,000  miles,  and  then  she  joined  her  prowess 
with  that  of  the  North  Atlantic  Squadron  and  gave  a  good  account 
of  herself  in  the  battle  of  July  3d.  She  is  called  the  "  Queen  of  the 
Seas  "  now,  and  it  would  seem  that  she  deserves  the  title,  for  the 
whole  world  has  viewed  with  amazement  this  mighty  output  of  Ameri 
can  shipbuilders,  which  stands  easily  first  in  its  record  among  the 
vessels  of  the  whole  world.  This  run  alone  would  have  made  its 
commander,  Captain  Clarke,  famous,  even  had  he  not  fought  so 
bravely  in  the  battle  with  Cervera's  fleet. 

Like  Admiral  Dewey,  he  was  born  in  Vermont,  and,  like  him,  he 
had  in  early  youth  a  desire  to  devote  his  life  to  service  at  sea.  He 
entered  the  Naval  Academy  September  29,  1860  ;  was  appointed  En 
sign  October  i,  1863,  and  served  during  the  remainder  of  the  Civil 
War  in  that  grade.  He  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  and 
the  bombardment  of  Fort  Morgan,  and  conducted  himself  with  credit 
in  all  these  engagements.  He  passed  rapidly  through  the  lower 
grades  and  became  Lieutenant-Commander  March  12,  1868,  and 
Commander  November  15,  1881.  He  commanded  the  Ranger  in  1883 
to  1886,  and  in  1891  he  was  stationed  at  the  Navy  Yard,  Mare  Island, 
California.  On  the  2ist  of  June,  1896,  he  was  promoted  to  Captain, 
and  on  March  I7th,  two  days  before  the  Oregon  began  her  famous 
trip,  he  was  placed  in  command  of  that  vessel. 

After  the  war,  the  strain  of  service  told  very  vigorously  on  Cap 
tain  Clarke,  and  he  was  condemned  by  the  Board  of  Medical  Survey, 
and  was  relieved  of  his  command.  He  was  placed  in  charge  of  the 
League  Island  Navy  Yard  at  Philadelphia. 


BOB  "    EVANS. 


One  can  hardly  think  of  the  heroes  of  the  Navy  without  thinking 
of  Captain  Robley  D.  Evans,  who  is  very  much  better  known  as 
"  Fighting  Bob  "  Evans.  As  the  commander  of  the  Iowa  he  did  him 


"FIGHTING  DOB   EVANS  "  467 

self  and  the  nation  great  credit  during  the  war.  Evans  is  a  native  of 
Virginia,  but  received  his  appointment  to  Annapolis  from  Utah.  He 
graduated  in  1863,  and  was  made  an  Ensign  in  the  same  year.  His 
career  began  on  the  steam  sloop  Powhattan,  of  the  West  India  Squad 
ron,  and  almost  immediately  he  saw  active  service.  He  participated 
on  both  the  land  attacks  on  Fort  Fisher,  January  15,  1865.  He  was 
among  the  leaders  in  the  assault,  and  while  under  the  ramparts  was 
so  severely  wounded  that  he  was  thought  to  be  dead  when  found. 
When  he  recovered  consciousness  he  was  told  that  one  of  his  legs 
must  be  amputated,  if  he  was  to  have  any  chance  of  recovery.  His 
pistol  was  still  in  his  belt,  and  he  declared  that  he  would  shoot  the 
first  surgeon  that  touched  him,  unless  he  promised  that  there  should 
be  no  amputation.  He  was  afraid  the  loss  of  a  leg  would  prevent 
him  from  ever  taking  his  place  as  an  officer  on  the  deck  of  a  warship. 

Soon,  however,  he  sank  into  a  sleep  out  of  sheer  weakness,  and 
then  he  was  chloroformed  and  the  operation  was  performed. 
Although  it  took  him  nearly  a  year  to  recover,  he  finally  pulled 
through,  and  was  delighted  to  know  that  he  was  kept  on  the  active 
list.  There  are  few  who  know  to-day  that  "Fighting  Bob"  has  only 
one  leg,  for  he  handles  an  artificial  limb  so  cleverly  that  it  does  the 
work  of  the  member  it  replaced. 

Evans  was  assigned  to  the  League  Island  Navy  Yard  in  1866, 
and  was  made  Lieutenant  the  same  year.  He  was  commissioned 
Lieutenant-Commander  March  12,  1868;  from  1870  to  1872  he  was 
assigned  to  shore  duty,  and  was  then  attached  successively  to  the 
Shenandoah,  Congress  and  Saratoga.  He  was  promoted  to  Com 
mander  in  July,  1878  ;  from  1882  to  1886  he  was  Lighthouse  Inspec 
tor,  and  on  the  following  year  he  became  Chief  Inspector  of  steel 
cruisers.  He  served  as  Secretary  of  the  Lighthouse  Board  from 
then  until  1889. 

The  title  "  Fighting  Bob"  was  given  him  while  in  command  of 
one  of  the  United  States  vessels  in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso,  just 
after  the  Schley  incident.  The  relations  between  our  Government 
and  that  of  Chile  were  somewhat  strained,  and  for  awhile  it  looked 
as  though  war  would  result.  Several  of  the  Chile  torpedo  boats 
began  manceuvering  in  a  threatening  manner  about  Evans'  vessel. 
He  trained  his  guns  on  the  torpedo  boats,  and  then  ordering  his 


468  THE  HEROES  OF  1898  AND  i899 

launch,  went  on  shore  and  gave  the  authorities  a  half  hour  to  stop 
the  manoeuvering.  Within  the  time  specified  the  boats  were  ordered 
away,  and  that  incident  ended  the  trouble.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  with  Spain  he  asked  to  be  placed  in  command  of  the  Iowa  and 
was  accommodated,  and  gave  a  good  account  of  himself  in  the  fight 
with  Cervera's  fleet  off  Santiago. 

LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER    RICHARD    WAINWRIGHT. 

When  the  Maine  was  blown  up  in  Havana  harbor,  she  had  as  her 
executive  officer  Lieutenant-Commander  Richard  Wainwright.  He 
was  one  of  the  fortunate  few  who  escaped  death  in  the  explosion. 
After  the  disaster,  Wainwright  stayed  for  seven  weeks  in  Havana 
harbor,  but  during  all  that  time  did  not  once  set  foot  in  Havana  City. 
He  was  ordered  on  board  the  Fern,  and  on  it,  according  to  rumor, 
he  registered  a  vow  that  he  would  never  enter  Havana  City,  while  it 
was  under  Spanish  rule,  unless  it  was  at  the  head  of  a  battalion  of 
blue  jackets.  At  the  hearing  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry  Wainwright 
was  one  of  the  chief  witnesses.  He  was  keenly  vindictive  about  the 
disaster,  and  frequently  expressed  his  desire  to  get  even  with  the 
Spaniards  for  the  loss  of  the  Maine. 

On  April  5th,  long  after  Captain  Sigsbee  and  all  his  other  sub 
ordinates  had  been  relieved,  Wainwright,  the  only  officer  of  the 
Maine,  remaining  in  Havana  harbor,  pulled  down  the  weather-stained 
flag  that  had  floated  day  and  night  from  the  shrouds  of  the  wrecked 
battleship,  and  went  in  obedience  to  the  summons  to  report  at  Wash 
ington  for  staff  duty  in  the  Navy  Department.  But  he  did  not  like 
it.  With  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was  eager  to  obtain  command 
of  some  small  vessel  with  some  capable  guns,  all  he  could  expect, 
being  only  a  Lieutenant-Commander.  It  was  not  long  before  he  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  transformed  pleasure  yacht  the  Corsair; 
and  everybody  is  familiar  with  what  Wainwright  did  to  "  Remember 
the  Maine." 

Though  a  strict  disciplinarian,  he  was  popular  with  both  officers 
and  men.  He  lacked  somewhat  the  charming  personality  and  con 
versational  powers  of  some  of  the  other  officers,  yet  he  showed  such 
sterling  manly  qualities  that  everybody  liked  and  admired  him.  He 
was  dignified,  strict  and  firm,  but  not  to  excess.  He  inherited  his 


CAPTAIN  CHARLES  V.  GRIDLEY  469 

fighting   instincts  from  his  father,  the  late  Commodore  Wainwright, 
who  died  in  the  naval  service  during  the  Civil  War. 

The  son  was  born  in  Washington,  and  is  about  48  years  of  age, 
the  youngest  man  of  his  grade  in  the  navy.  He  was  graduated  from 
the  Naval  Academy  in  1868,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Jamestown  of 
the  Pacific  fleet.  He  was  promoted  to  Ensign  in  1869,  and  the  fol 
lowing  year  was  ordered  to  the  Hydrographic  Office.  The  same  year 
he  was  promoted  to  Master,  and  from  1870  to  1872  was  assigned  to 
the  Colorado,  of  the  Asiatic  fleet.  He  was  commissioned  Lieutenant 
in  1872,  and  the  next  year  was  ordered  back  to  the  Hydrographic 
Office.  From  1875  to  1878  he  was  in  command  of  the  coast  survey 
vessel  Arago,  and  since  that  time  he  has  made  two  cruises  to  China. 
He  is  considered  one  of  the  best  tacticians  in  the  navy,  and  his 
advice,  just  before  the  war  broke  out,  proved  exceedingly  valuable  in 
the  construction  of  tlie  naval  plan  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

CAPTAIN    CHARLES    V.    GRIDLEY. 

When  Admiral  Dewey  planned  to  enter  Manila  Bay  he  had  with 
him  as  Commander  of  his  flagship,  the  'Olympia,  Captain  Charles  V. 
Gridley,  and  no  man  deserved  higher  praise  or  won  greater  laurels 
from  the  Admiral  than  did  this  hero  who  sacrificed  his  life  for  the 
flag.  He  fought  his  ship  from  the  conning  tower,  while  the  Admiral 
directed  the  movement  of  the  squadron  from  the  bridge  of  the  vessel. 
After  the  battle  the  brave  Captain  died  from  the  injuries  received 
during  that  fight.  He  was  condemned  by  the  Board  of  Medical 
Survey  just  after  the  fight,  and  was  on  his  way  home  when  he  died. 

Captain  Gridley  was  not  a  dress-parade-officer.  He  had  the 
reputation  of  being  one  of  the  best  equipped  men  in  the  navy.  He 
was  a  splendid  navigator,  and  had  a  good  knowledge  of  all  the  details 
and  requirements  of  the  service.  He  was  born  in  Logansport, 
Indiana,  in  1845,  DUt  was  appointed  to  Annapolis  from  Michigan,  to 
which  place  the  family  had  moved.  He  was  graduated  in  1863,  a 
year  ahead  of  his  time,  owing  to  the  Civil  War.  He  was  made  an 
Ensign  October  i,  1863,  and  in  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  he  showed 
his  coolness  and  bravery.  He  passed  through  various  important 
posts  until,  on  March  10,  1882,  he  was  made  Commander. 


47o  THE  HEROES  OF  i898  AND  i899 

From  October,  1882,  to  February,  1884,  he  was  Chief  Naviga 
tion  Officer  at  the  Boston  Navy  Yard  ;  in  February,  1884,  ne  was 
ordered  to  command  the  training  ship  Portsmouth ;  from  June  to 
November,  1886,  he  was  the  senior  officer  of  the  Cruising  Training 
Squadron.  In  July,  1887,  he  was  Inspector  of  the  Tenth  Lighthouse 
District  stationed  at  Buffalo,  where  he  served  until  October,  1891. 
In  March,  1897,  while  Commander  of  the  receiving  ship  Richmond 
at  League  Island  he  was  ordered  to  the  Asiatic  Squadron  ;  and  on 
July  1 8th,  he  was  assigned  to  command  the  Olympia. 

RICHMOND    P.    HOBSON. 

No  record  of  the  heroes  of  the  Navy  would  be  complete  with 
out  a  sketch  of  Richmond  Pearson  Hobson,  who  braved  death  on  the 
Merrimac  in  his  attempt  to  sink  that  vessel  and  shut  in  the  Spanish 
fleet.  Although  only  28  years  of  age,  Hobson  has  achieved  a  repu 
tation  for  heroism  that  is  doubtlessly  envied  by  many  an  older  man. 
He  was  born  in  the  little  town  of  Greensboro,  Ala.,  where  his  father, 
James  M.  Hobson,  had  been  Judge  of  the  Probate  Court  of  the 
county  for  twenty-five  years,  and  is  now  a  retired  planter.  In  that 
quiet  country  town,  which  is  so  far  from  larger  cities  that  newspapers 
do  not  reach  it  until  at  least  twelve  hours  after  publication,  this  young 
man  was  reared,  and  his  character  was  formed. 

Those  who  remember  him  in  Greensboro  say  that  his  chief 
characteristics  were  shown  very  early  in  his  life.  He  was  brave,  reso 
lute,  modest,  yet  aggressive,  when  occasion  required.  Mentally  he 
was  original  and  brilliant.  He  was  a  good  shot  and  a  good  athlete, 
even  in  his  boyhood  days.  As  he  grew  up  he  attended  the  Southern 
University  which  was  situated  in  his  native  town,  and  while  there, 
though  not  a  hard  student,  he  led  his  class  easily  and  carried  off  all 
the  honors,  including  that  of  champion  debater  in  the  literary  society. 
Later  he  went  to  Annapolis,  and  there  he  obtained  the  reputation  of 
being  a  hard  worker.  He  cared  more  for  his  books  than  for 
a  good  time.  Perhaps  the  thing  that  he  was  most  noted  for  there 
was  his  intolerance  of  hazing  and  the  horse-play  which  are  so  common 
at  institutions  of  learning.  He  graduated  with  high  honors  and 
plunged  into  the  work  of  his  profession  with  great  zeal. 


GENERAL  NELSON  A.  MILES  471 

Judge  Hobson,  when  asked  when  his  son  first  showed  a  desire 
to  become  a  naval  officer,  said  :  "  Richmond  was  always  interested  in 
army  and  navy  matters.  In  1884  he  made  a  trip  to  New  Orleans, 
and  there  he  saw  the  old  warship  Tennessee.  He  came  back  possessed 
of  many  details  about  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  vessel, 
and  announced  his  desire  to  go  to  Annapolis.  He  evinced  a  decided 
talent  for  mathematics  and  the  mechanical  construction  of  toyships, 
and  such  things  as  boys  generally  make."  The  people  of  his  native 
town  are  proud  of  him,  as  they  were  of  his  father  before  him,  and  the 
old  home  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of  magnolias,  cedar  and  water-oaks 
on  the  hill  at  the  western  terminus  of  Greensboro's  main  avenue, — a 
typical  plantation  house  of  the  old  colonial  style, — is  the  Mecca  of 
hero  worshipers  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

These  constitute  some  of  the  leaders  who  won  fame  for  our 
country  on  the  sea.  It  is  difficult  to  make  a  distinction,  for  nearly 
all  of  those  who  were  in  command  of  vessels  during  the  war  won 
laurels  for  bravery  and  good  judgment  and  coolness  under  fire.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  leaders  of  the  army,  and  yet  there  are  a  few  whose 
names  are  more  familiar  than  others  on  account  of  their  position,  or 
on  account  of  their  individual  heroism. 

GENERAL    NELSON    A.    MILES. 

When  the  war  with  Spain  broke  out,  the  Commander  of  all  the 
forces  of  the  United  States,  General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  decided  to 
remain  at  Washington  and  take  control  of  all  the  troops  from  that 
IDoint.  Later,  however,  he  determined  to  go  to  the  front,  and  for 
that  purpose  he  embarked  from  Key  West  and  reached  Santiago  in 
time  to  be  present  at  the  surrender  of  the  city,  although  he  did  not 
displace  General  Shafter  from  the  command  of  the  forces  there. ' 
After  the  city  had  surrendered  General  Miles  took  personal  charge  of 
the  campaign  in  Porto  Rico,  and  was  pushing  forward  on  a  victorious 
march  when  the  news  of  the  cessation  of  hostilities  reached  him. 

The  fame  of  the  commander  of  all  the  forces  of  the  United 
States  was  made  chiefly  as  an  Indian  fighter.  He  had  been  schooled 
in  the  Civil  War  and  graduated  in  the  conflict  with  the  savage  tribes 
in  the  West.  General  Miles  did  not  have  a  West  Point  training.  He 
began  his  service  in  the  ranks  of  the  Union  volunteers.  The  blood 


472  THE  HEROES  OF  1898  AND  i899 

of  a  long  line  of  ancestors  who  had  been  fighters  flowed  through  his 
veins.  One  of  his  ancestors  was  a  'captain  in  King  Philips'  War, 
while  Daniel,  his  great-grandfather,  and  three  of  Daniel's  sons,  one 
of  whom  was  Joab,  the  General's  grandfather,  were  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  Army. 

General  Miles  had  just  attained  his  majority  when  he  went  to 
the  front  as  first  Lieutenant  of  a  company  he  had  raised  himself.  He 
was  working  in  a  crockery  store  when  the  first  call  for  volunteers 
came  in  the  Civil  War.  He  drew  from  a  savings  bank  $1,000  which 
he  had  saved  from  his  wages,  and  borrowing  $2,500  on  his  personal 
note  he  raised  and  equipped  a  company.  The  Governor  of  the  State 
mustered  in  the  company  and  made  Miles  a  captain.  Later,  however, 
when  a  political  friend  wanted  an  appointment,  the  Governor  recalled 
the  commission  on  the  ground  that  Miles  was  too  young  for  such  a 
command,  and  offered  to  make  4iim  a  first  Lieutenant  instead,  and  as 
such  he  went  into  the  war. 

He  had  been  in  the  field  but  a  short  time,  when  General  O.  O. 
Howard  became  interested  in  him  and  took  him  upon  his  staff. 
Miles  was  one  of  Howard's  aides  at  Fair  Oaks,  and  in  that  battle  he 
gave  proof  of  the  stuff  that  he  was  made  of.  Howard  had  orders 
that  had  to  be  delivered  at  once.  The  mission  was  one  filled  with 
the  greatest  danger,  and  Miles  was  chosen  to  carry  it  out.  Half  an 
hour  after  the  young  man  had  started  with  his  message,  Howard, 
standing  in  front  of  his  tent,  saw  a  stretcher  being  carried  towards 
him  with  a  wounded  man  upon  it.  From  a  great  ragged  wound  in 
his  neck  the  blood  was  flowing,  and  the  victim  was  trying  vainly  to 
check  it  by  gripping  the  torn  flesh  in  his  fingers.  As  the  stretcher 
came  to  the  front  of  the  General's  tent,  the  wounded  man  halted 
and  said  : 

"  General,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  your  lines  are  weak  over  yon. 
der,  and  there  will  be  trouble  unless  you  send  reinforcements  at 
once." 

The  speaker  was  young  Miles,  and  as  the  men  carried  him  away; 
General  Howard  asked  where  he  had  been  picked  up. 

"  Down  there  near  the  far  end  of  the  line,  about  a  mile  and 
ahalf,  sir." 

Hearing  this  Howard  turned  to  the  officers  near  him  and  said  : 


GENERAL    WILLIAM  R.  SH AFTER  473 

"  Holding  that  wound  for  a  mile  and  a-half  to  bring  that  report! 
If  that  young  fellow  lives  he  will  be  heard  of  again." 

He  did  live  and  was  heard  of  frequently  throughout  the  war, 
and  was  shot  both  at  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville. 

After  the  Civil  War  General  Miles  saw  twenty  years  of  service 
as  an  Indian  fighter,  and  his  efficiency  and  bravery  in  dealing  with 
the  redskins  won  him  promotion  which  finally  terminated  in  his 
achieving  the  highest  rank  in  the  army. 

Personally  General  Miles  is  an  ideal  soldier.  ,He  is  one  of  the 
handsomest  men  in  the  army,  carries  himself  well,  and  has  the  ease 
and  polish  of  a  man  who  has  long  mixed  with  the  social  life  for  which 
the  army  is  noted.  He  is  popular  with  his  men  everywhere,  is  a  good 
organizer  and  a  good  leader. 

GENERAL  WILLIAM  R.  SHAFTER. 

The  army  of  invasion  in  Cuba  was  in  command  of  General 
William  Rufus  Shafter.  He,  too,  had  seen  Indian  fighting  for  many 
years.  Adjutant-General  Corbin  summed  up  his  history  in  a  para 
graph  : — "  He  came  from  what  Lincoln  called  the  'plain  people.'  He 
did  not  go  to  West  Point ;  he  is  a  self-made  soldier,  if  there  can  be 
such  a  thing.  It  were  better  to  say  that  he  was  born  a  soldier  and 
that,  even  had  he  tried  to  alter  his  career,  he  could  not,  in  spirit  at 
least,  ever  have  been  other  than  a  soldier." 

He  was  a  farmer's  boy,  tough  and  lean  as  hickory.  He  was 
twenty-five  years  old,  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and  entered  the 
Seventh  Michigan  Infantry  in  1861,  as  a  First  Lieutenant,  lie 
served  with  distinction  through  the  war,  having  been  consecutively, 
Major  of  the  Nineteenth  Michigan  Infantry,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and 
Colonel  of  the  United  States  Infantry,  and  breveted  Brigadier- 
General  in  March  1865.  He  won  brevet  of  Colonel  also  for  gallant 
and  meritorious  services  in  the  Battle  of  Fair  Oaks. 

His  commission  as  Colonel  of  the  First  Infantry  was  vacated 
May  4,  1897,  by  his  promotion  to  Brigadier-General.  He  was  put 
in  command  of  the  Department  of  California,  with  headquarters  at 
San  Francisco.  During  the  past  thirty  years  of  his  life  his  service 
has  been  continously  in  the  West.  He  won  distinction  in  the  Indian 
campaign  of  Texas,  New  Mexico  and  along  the  Rio  Grande. 


474  THE  HEROES  OF  1898  AND  i899 

Personally  General  Shafter  is  a  trifle  less  than  six  feet  in  height 
and  so  stout  that  he  weighs  about  three  hundred  pounds.  He  has 
blue  eyes  under  heavy  shaggy  brows  and  a  fighting  hook  nose.  He 
wears  a  heavy  mustache  of  gray,  and  hair  parted  in  the  middle.  He 
is  popular  with  his  men,  and  his  bravery  has  never  been  questioned. 
As  might  have  been  expected  in  a  man  of  his  physique  the  heat  of 
the  campaign  in  Cuba  told  heavily  upon  him,  and  while  the  great 
battle  which  resulted  in  the  downfall  of  Santiago  was  fought,  he  was 
too  ill  to  take  command  in  person.  General  Shafter  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Galesburg,  Kalamazoo  County,  Michigan,  October  16,  1835. 

GENERAL    JOE    WHEELER. 

It  is  a  matter  of  more  than  ordinary  interest,  that  the  man,  who 
perhaps  as  much  as  any  other  hero  of  the  war  won  honors  for  indivi 
dual  heroism  and  bravery  as  a  leader,  came  from  the  ranks  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  with  a  record  for  bravery  in  the  Confederate 
cause,  equal  to  that  which,  in  his  mature  years,  he  achieved  for  the 
Stars  and  Stripes. 

In  the  popular  mind,  General  Joe  Wheeler  stands  out  in  bold 
relief  as  one  of  the  notable  men  in  the  Spanish  war.  None,  perhaps, 
is  more  picturesque.  He  is  a  small  man  of  about  120  pounds,  bearing 
his  sixty-two  years  of  age  with  a  vigor  that  is  surprising,  an  agile, 
active  man,  who  knows  neither  fear  nor  fatigue. 

Wheeler  was  born  a  cavalryman,  and  when  he  resigned  his 
Second  Lieutenant's  commission  in  the  Fifth  Dragoons  in  1861,  to 
serve  the  Confederacy,  it  was  with  some  reluctance  that  he  accepted 
a  First  Lieutenant's  commission  in  the  artillery  and  an  assignment  to 
garrison  duty  at  Pensacola.  A  few  months  later  he  received  a 
Colonel's  commission  in  an  Alabama  infantry  regiment. 

At  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  both  he  and  his  command  gave  good 
accounts  of  themselves.  The  regiment  was  almost  shattered,  but 
Colonel  Wheeler,  according  to  his  brigade  commander,  "  bravely 
charged  at  the  head  of  the  small  remnant  of  his  regiment,  and  the 
remnant  of  Mississippians,  bearing  the  regimental  colors  aloft."  In 
this  charge  two  horses  were  shot  under  him,  in  fact  Wheeler's  horse 
always  offered  a  better  target  than  his  rider,  and  before  the  war  ended 
sixteen  had  been  shot  and  killed  under  him  in  battle,  besides  a  great 


COLONEL  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  475 

number  wounded.  He  was  always  in  the  thick  of  the  fio-ht,  even 
after  he  rose  to  the  command  -of  a  division  and  a  corps,  and  duty  on 
his  staff  was  by  no  means  a  sinecure.  From  first  to  last  no  fewer 
than  thirty-two  of  his  staff  officers  were  killed  or  wounded  while 
riding  beside 'him  in  battle.  He  himself  was  wounded  three  times. 

The  history  of  the  Confederate  battles  teems  with  the  name  of 
Wheeler  on  almost  every  page.  Daring  calvary  raids  and  counter- 
raids  were  made  successfully  by  this  brave  officer,  and  in  the  dying 
days  of  the  Confederacy,  Wheeler  was  taken  prisoner  and  confined 
in  Fort  Delaware,  from  which  he  was  liberated  after  a  short  imprison- 
me.nt  on  parole. 

He  was  the  first  ex-Confederate  to  offer  his  services  to  the 
Government  as  a  soldier  in  the  war  with  Spain,  and,  when  he  again 
took  up  arms,  he  belted  his  sword  around  a  blue  instead  of  a  gray 
uniform,  and  went  forth  to  battle  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and 
not  only  did  he  go,  but  his  two  sons  went  with  him  to  the  front  and 
his  daughter  put  on  the  uniform  of  a  nurse,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Santiago,  was  to  the  sick  and  wounded  what  her  father  was  to  the 
men  in  battle,  an  inspiration  and  an  aid. 

COLONEL    THEODORE    ROOSEVELT. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  better  known,  Colonel  "  Teddy" 
Roosevelt  or  the  Rough  Riders.  After  the  promotion  of  Colonel 
Wood,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Roosevelt  was  placed  in  charge  of  this 
invincible  body  of  fighters,  which  distinguished  itself  at  the  front. 
He  had  left  the  Navy  Department,  where  he  had  been  assistant  to  the 
Secretary  in  order  that  he  might  taste  the  delights  of  battle.  His 
has  been  a  career  of  which  any  man  might  well  be  proud.  Although 
a  young  man,  having  been  born  on  October  27,  1858,  he  has  fought 
his  way  to  the  front  and  stands  to-day  at  the  foremost  ranks  of  the 
younger  men,  who  have  made  fame  in  the  political  world,  besides 
proving  himself  a  hero  in  battle.  His  family  has  figured  prominently 
in  the  business,  social  and  political  affairs  of  New  York,  for  many 
generations,  and  some  member  of  the  family  took  part  in  every 
struggle  from  the  Revolution  to  the  war  with  Spain. 

Although  "born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  his  mouth,"  Theodore 
Roosevelt  had  no  idea  of  living  a  life  of  idleness  and  uselessness,  Avs 


476  THE  HEROES  OF  1898  AND  i899 

a  boy  he  was  sickly  and  delicate,  and  so  the  first  thing  that  he  set 
about  to  do  was  to  make  himself  well  and  strong.  By  the  time  he 
entered  Harvard  he  was  able  to  take  part  in  all  kinds  of  sports, 
although  never  excelling  as  an  athlete.  He  graduated  in  1880,  a 
strong  vigorous  man,  well  trained,  both  in  body  and  in  mind.  He 
studied  law  and  in  his  first  year  out  of  college  began  his  career  in 
politics,  having  been  elected  to  the  Assembly  from  the  Twenty-first 
District  of  New  York.  He  was  re-elected  three  times  and  had 
become  so  prominent  as  an  agressive  man  that  he  became  the 
Republican  candidate  for  Mayor  of  New  York,  but  was  defeated. 
President  Cleveland  appointed  him  a  Republican  member  of  the 
United  States  Civil  Service  Commission,  and  his  ability  and  honesty 
in  that  position  added  to  his  hold  on  the  popular  regard.  He  con 
tinued  in  that  office  until  May  i,  1895,  when  he  was  made  Police 
Commissioner  by  Mayor  Strong  of  New  York.  He  soon  began  to 
turn  things  upside  down,  and  made  it  evident,  that  he  was  a  man  who 
had  to  be  recognized  in  every  move.  President  McKinley  appointed 
him  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  April  6,  1897,  an<^  in  tnat 
position  he  contributed  largely  to  the  successful  administration  of 
the  naval  affairs  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  always  spent  his  summers  on  his  ranch  in  Dakota, 
and  there  he  became  familiar  with  the  rough  life  of  the  cowboy,  and 
became  used  to  the  hardships  which  he  had  to  undergo  in  the  cam 
paign  in  Cuba.  In  the  midst  of  his  very  busy  political  life,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  has  found  time  to  do  considerable  literary  work,  and  has 
published  nearly  a  score  of  interesting  books. 

GENERAL    HENRY    W.    LAWTON. 

Among  those  who  were  conspicuous  for  their  bravery  in  the 
Cuban  campaign,  is  one  General  who  is  equally  conspicuous  in  the 
fighting  in  the  Philippines.  That  is  Major-General  Henry  W.  Law- 
ton.  General  Lawton  takes  to  fighting  as  a  duck  does  to  water.  He 
is  ranked  as  one  of  the  very  best  Indian  fighters  in  the  country,  and 
his  knowledge  of  the  savage  methods  of  warfare  has  made  him  of 
great  value  both  in  Cuba  and  the  far-away  islands  across  the  sea.  He 
was  famous  even  before  the  war  with  Spain.  He  had  made  a  reputa 
tion  as  a  fearless  fighter  on  many  a  battlefield. 


GENERAL  ELWELL  S.  OTIS  477 

He  entered  the  volunteer  army  as  a  sergeant  in  the  Ninth  Indi 
ana  Infantry  immediately  after  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  He 
became  a  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Thirtieth  Indiana  in  August,  1861, 
and  rose  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  by  November,  1864,  being 
mustered  out  with  a  brevet  of  Colonel  for  gallant  and  meritorious 
service.  He  was  appointed  to  the  regular  army  in  1866,  and  was 
transferred  to  the  Fourth  Cavalry  as  a  First  Lieutenant  in  1871.  He 
became  a  Captain  March  20,  1879,  m  which  rank  he  led  his  troops  in 
a  number  of  the  hardest  Indian  campaigns  which  our  army  has  ever 
undertaken.  In  direct  recognition  of  this  splendid  service  Captain 
Lawton  was  promoted  to  the  Inspector-General's  Department,  with 
the  rank  of  Major,  in  1888.  The  following  year  he  was  made  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was  appointed  a 
Brigadier-General,  and  in  reward  of  meritorious  service  was  further 
advanced  to  Major- General  after  the  Battle  of  Santiago,  where  he  so 
greatly  distinguished  himself. 

Lawton  is  the  giant  of  the  army.  He  is  six  feet  three  inches 
tall,  weighs  210  pounds,  and  every  ounce  of  it  is  bone  and  muscle. 
He  is  55  years  old,  but  is  as  vigorous  and  springy  as  an  athlete. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  strength  and  endurance  that  he  can 
not  do.  He  has  imbibed  much  of  the  unconventionalities  of  a  man 
who  has  spent  a  long  term  on  the  frontier  actively  engaged  in  war 
fare  with  the  Indians.  He  is  quick-tempered,  but  just,  and  his  men 
worship  him,  and  are  ready  to  follow  him  to  the  last  ditch. 

GENERAL    ELWELL    S.    OTIS. 

When  the  American  troops  were  sent  to  the  Philippines  General 
Wesley  Merritt  was  placed  in  command,  but  after  the  downfall  of 
Manila  General  Merritt  was  relieved  to  attend  the  Peace  Conference 
at  Paris,  and  General  Elwell  Stephen  Otis  was  appointed  to  succeed 
him.  By  birth,  General  Otis  is  a  Marylander.  He  was  born  at 
Frederick,  which  is  also  the  birthplace  of  Admiral  Schley,  in 
1838,  but  New  York  claims  him,  as  he  has  lived  most  of  his  life  in 
that  State.  He  was  graduated  from  Rochester  University  in  1858, 
and  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  following  year.  He  entered  the  Law 
School  of  Harvard  in  1859,  so  as  to  more  thoroughly  ground  himself 
in  legal  knowledge,  and  in  due  time  took  his  degree. 


478  THE  HEROES  OF  i898  AND  i899 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  he  went  to  the  front  as  Captain  of 
the  One  Hundred  and  Fortieth  New  York  Infantry,  becoming  Colonel 
of  the  regiment  and  Brigadier-General  of  volunteers  in  1864.  He 
saw  plenty  of  hot  fighting,  and  was  severely  wounded  at  Weldon 
Road,  Virginia,  a  ball  entering  his  face  to  the  left  of  the  nose  and 
passing  out  just  back  of  the  ear.  This  wound  has  never  healed,  and 
it  is  extraordinary  how  much  work  General  Otis  has  been  able  to  do, 
while  suffering  for  years  with  it.  Because  of  this  physical  incapacity 
for  the  field,  he  was  honorably  mustered  out  in  January,  1865,  and 
received  new  brevets  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  at  Spottsyl- 
vania  and  Chapel  House,  Va.  His  higher  brevet  of  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  of  Volunteers  dates  from  July  28,  1866. 

His  heart  was  writh  the  army,  however,  and  he  returned  to  it  in 
1867  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Twenty-second  Infantry,  and 
became  Colonel  of  the  Twentieth  in  February,  1880.  He  became 
skilled  in  frontier  warfare,  and  for  fourteen  years  served  in  Indian 
campaigns.  He  organized  in  1883  the  Infantry  and  Cavalry  School 
at  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  which  has  been  invaluable  to  the  army  in 
the  training  of  young  officers.  On  November  26,  1893,  after  thirty- 
one  years  of  service,  he  was  commissioned  as  a  Brigadier-General, 
and  after  going  to  the  Philippines  was  made  a  Major-General.  Gen 
eral  Otis  is  not  a  demonstrative  man,  but  is  inclined  to  be  reticent 
and  unobtrusive.  He  is  a  man  of  untiring  energy,  and  derives  inex 
plicable  pleasure  from  looking  after  the  minutest  details  of  his  com 
mand — things  which  are  usually  deputized  to  inferior  officers.  For 
instance,  he  usually  writes  out  all  of  his  own  orders,  so  that  his  adju 
tant  practically  has  nothing  to  do.  He  reads  every  official  order 
carefully,  and  works  early  and  late  on  details  of  this  kind.  He  finds 
more  pleasure  in  his  home  than  at  his  club,  and  works  there  inces 
santly  when  not  at  his  own  office. 

GENERAL    ARTHUR  MAC  ARTHUR. 

Of  all  those  in  General  Otis'  command  General  MacArthur  has 
achieved  more  prominence  in  the  fighting  in  the  Philippines  than  any 
other  officer.  Everywhere  his  troops  carried  victory  with  them,  and 
he  himself  was  always  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  firing  line,  facing 
death  fearlessly,  MacArthur  won  his  spurs  as  a  fighter  in  the  Civil 


GENERAL  ARTHUR  MAC  ARTHUR  479 

War,  when  but  a  boy  of  nineteen.  He  went  into  the  war  as  a  First 
Lieutenant.  Two  years  later  he  was  made  a  Major,  and  at  the  time  of 
Lee's  surrender  he  was  breveted  Colonel  for  bravery.  Two  months 
later  he  was  appointed  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  held  that  rank,  when 
the  war  closed.  But  the  spirit  of  war  was  upon  him.  He  obtained 
an  appointment  as  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Seventeenth  Infantry  a 
year  after  the  surrender  Two  months  later  he  was  made  First  Lieu 
tenant  and  three  months  after  Captain  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Infantry. 
In  1889  he  was  assigned  to  the  Adjutant  General's  Office,  and  in 
1896  he  was  made  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  that  department. 

When  the  troops  were  sent  to  the  Philippines  he  was  appointed 
a  Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers.  By  birth  he  is  a  Massachusetts 
man,  although  he  went  into  the  army  from  Wisconsin,  where  his 
family  removed.  Mac  Arthur  is  a  rather  short,  heavily-built  man  who 
dresses  carefully  and  with  taste,  and  is  an  ideal  soldier  in  action.  He 
is  rather  quiet  and  thoughtful,  though  he  enjoys  a  good  story  and 
appreciates  a  good  joke..  He  is  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  and  his  men 
swear  by  MacArthur. 

Coolness  and  carefulness  characterize  his  fighting,  and  he  care 
fully  plans  his  warfare  and  then  aggressively  carries  it  out.  His  father 
was  a  Judge  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  consequently  MacArthur 
saw  a  great  deal  of  social  life  there.  He  is  very  careful  about  his 
social  duties,  and  rather  enjoys  the  lighter  side  of  men  and  women, 
As  one  of  his  aides  summed  him  up :  i(  He  is  an  ideal  soldier  and 
an  ideal  man." 

And  so  the  record  of  our  heroes  goes  on,  and  might  be  prolonged 
indefinitely,  but  these  are  fair  samples  of  the  American  leaders  who 
have  shown  the  world  how  American  men  can  fight,  and  how  Ameri 
can  men  do  fight  when  there  is  a  just  cause. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

The  Closing  Events  of  the  Philippine  War 

A  Proclamation  by  the  Commissioners  from  the  United  States,  Giving  Assurance  of 
our  Good  Will  but  Stating  that  American  Supremacy  Will  be  Maintained  for 
Good  Government. — Dagupan  Bombarded. — General  Montenegro  One  of  the 
Great  Insurgent  Leaders  Killed. — Lawton's  Flying  Column  Sweeps  Down  Upon 
the  Province  of  Laguna. — Santa  Cruz  Captured. — Lumban  and  Pagsangan  Also 
Fall  Before  the  American  Troops. — Lawton's  Expedition  Recalled. — MacArthur's 
Men  Gloriously  Storm  Calumpit's  Trenches. — The  Fighting  Continues. 

SHORTLY  after  the  fall  of  Malolos,  the  United  States  Philip 
pine  Commissioners  issued  a  proclamation  on    behalf  of  our 
Government  to  show  the  good  will  of  the  President  and  the 
people  of  the   United  States  towards  the  inhabitants  of  the  Philip 
pines.     This  proclamation  was  one  of  the  most  important  documents 
issued  in  connection  with  war  in  those  islands,  and  is  given  herewith 
in  full,  inasmuch  as  it  shows  the  attitude  which   President  McKinley 
has  taken  and  proposes  to  carry  out  in  regard  to  the  Filipinos. 
The  proclamation  follows  : 

"The  commission  desires  to  assure  the  people  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  of  the  cordial  good  will  and  fraternal  feeling  which  is  enter 
tained  for  them  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  by  the 
American  people. 

'  The  aim  and  object  of  the  American  Government,  apart  from 
the  fulfillment  of  the  solemn  obligations  it  has  assumed  toward  the 
family  of  nations  by  its  acceptance  of  sovereignty  over  the  Philippine 
Islands,  is  the  well-being,  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  Philippine 
people  and  their  elevation  and  advancement  to  a  position  among  the 
most  civilized  peoples  of  the  world. 

"  The  President  believes  that  this  felicity  and  perfection  of  the 

Philippine  people  is  to   be  brought  about  by  the  assurance  of  peace 

and   order,   by  the  guarantee  of  civil  and   religious   liberty,   by  the 

establishment  of  justice,  by  the  cultivation  of  letters,  science  and  the 

(48o) 


A  PROCLAMATION  BY  THE  COMMISSIONERS  481 

liberal  and  practical  arts,  by  the  enlargement  of  intercourse  with 
foreign  nations,  by  expansion  of  industrial  pursuits,  by  trade  and 
commerce,  by  multiplication  and  improvement  of  the  means  of 
internal  communication,  by  development,  with  the  aid  of  modern 
mechanical  inventions,  of  the  great  natural  resources  of  the  archi 
pelago,  and,  in  a  word,  by  the  uninterrupted  devotion  of  the  people  to 
the  pursuit  of  useful  objects  and  the  realization  of  those  noble  ideas 
which  constitute  the  higher  civilization  of  mankind. 

"  Unfortunately,  these  pure  aims  and  purposes  of  the  American 
Government  and  people  have  been  misinterpreted  to  some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  certain  islands,  and  as  a  consequence,  the  friendly 
American  forces,  have,  without  provocation  or  cause,  been  openly 
attacked.  And  why  these  hostilities  ?  What  do  the  best  Filipinos 
desire?  Can  it  be  more  than  the  United  States  is  ready  to  give  ? 
They  are  patriots  and  wants  liberty. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  attention  of  the  people  of  the  Philippines 
is  invited  to  certain  regulative  principles  by  which  the  United  States 
will  be  guided  in  its  relations  with  them. 

"  These  are  deemed  to  be  the  points  of  cardinal  importance  : 

"  i.  The  supremacy  of  the  United  States  must  and  will  be 
enforced  throughout  every  part  of  the  archipelago,  and  those  who 
resist  it  can  accomplish  no  end  other  than  their  own  ruin. 

"  2.  To  the  Philippine  people  will  be  granted  the  most  ample 
liberty  and  self-government  reconcilable  with  the  maintenance  of  a 
wise,  just,  stable,  effective  and  economical  administration  of  public 
affairs  and  compatible  with  the  sovereign  and  international  rights 

and  the  obligations  of  the  United  States. 

i 

"  3.  The  civil  rights  of  the  Philippine  people  will  be  guaranteed 
and  protected  to  the  fullest  extent  ;  religious  freedom  will  be  assured, 
and  all  persons  shall  be  equal  and  have  equal  standing  in  the  eyes  of 
the  law. 

"4.  Honor,  justice  and  friendship  forbid  the  use  of  the  Philip 
pine  people  or  the  islands  they  inhabit  as  an  object  or  means  of 
exploitation.  The  purpose  of  the  American  Government  is  the 
welfare  and  advancement  of  the  Philippine  people. 


482  THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE   WAR 

"  5.  There  shall  be  guaranteed  to  the  Philippine  people  an  honest 
and  effective  civil  service  in  which,  to  the  fullest  extent  to  which  it  is 
practical,  natives  shall  be  employed. 

"  6.  The  collection  and  application  of  all  taxes  and  other  reve 
nues  will  be  placed  upon  a  sound,  economical  basis  and  the  public 
funds,  raised  justly  and  collected  honestly,  will  be  applied  only  to 
defray  the  regular  and  proper  expenses  incurred  by  and  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  the  Philippine  Government  and 
such  general  improvements  as  the  public  interests  may  demand. 
Local  funds  collected  will  be  used  for  local  purposes  and  not  to  be 
devoted  to  other  ends. 

"  With  such  prudent  and  honest  fiscal  administration  it  is 
believed  that  the  needs  of  the  Government  will,  in  a  short  time, 
become  compatible  with  a  considerable  reduction  in  taxation. 

"  7.  A  pure,  speedy  and  effective  administration  of  justice  will 
be  established  whereby  may  be  eradicated  the  evils  arising  from 
delay,  corruption  and  exploitation. 

"  8.  The  construction  of  roads,  railroads  and  similar  means  of 
communication  and  transportation,  and  of  other  public  works,  mani 
festly  to  the  advantage  of  the  Philippine  people,  will  be  promoted. 

"  9.  Domestic  and  foreign  trade  and  commerce,  agriculture  and 
other  industrial  pursuits  tending  toward  the  general  development  of 
the  country,  in  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants,  shall  be  objects  of 
constant  solicitude  and  fostering  care. 

"  10.  Effective  provision  will  be  made  for  the  establishment  of 
elementary  schools  in  which  the  children  of  the  people  may  be 
educated,  and  appropriate  facilities  will  be  provided  for  a  higher 
education. 

"n.  Reforms  in  all  departments  of  the  Government,  all 
branches  of  the  public  service  and  all  corporations  closely  touching 
the  common  life  of  the  people  will  be  undertaken  without  delay  and 
effected  conformably  with  right  and  justice  in  a  way  to  satisfy  the 
well-founded  demands  and  the  highest  sentiments  and  aspirations  of 
the  people. 


INSURGENT  GOVERNMENT  TOTTERS  483 

"  Such  is  the  spirit  in  which  the  United  States  comes  to  the 
people  of  the  islands,  and  the  President  has  instructed  the  commis 
sion  to  make  this  publicly  known. 

11  In  obeying  his  behest,  the  commissioners  desire  to  join  the 
President  in  expressing  their  good  will  toward  the  Philippine  people 
and  to  extend  to  the  leading  representative  men  an  invitation  to 
meet  them  for  the  purpose  of  personal  acquaintance  and  the 
exchange  of  views  and  opinions. 

JACOB  GOULD  SCHURMAN,  GEORGE  DEWEY, 

U.  S.  Commissioner.  U.  S.  Navy. 

ELWELL  S.   OTIS,  CHARLFS  DENBY, 

Major-General,  U.  S.  A.  U.  S.  Commissioner. 

DEAN  C.  WORCESTER, 

U.  S.  Commissioner. 

Colonel  Charles  Denby,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Commission, 
said  concerning  it,  "This  is  the  most  important  proclamation  since 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Spanish,  Tagalo  and  English 
versions  of  it  have  been  printed  and  it  is  proposed  to  circulate  them 
at  all  the  seaports  and  they  will  be  sent  to  the  lake  towns  by  gun 
boats."  The  effect  of  this  publication  was  to  bring  thousands  of 
Filipinos  into  our  lines  under  the  flag  of  surrender. 

In  the  meantime  General  Mac  Arthur's  army  rested  at  Malolos, 
the  men  sleeping  in  the  trenches  and  occasionally  exchanging  shots 
with  stray  detachments  of  insurgents,  who  kept  up  just  enough  fire 
to  make  life  unbearable  to  the  soldiers.  After  the  battle  which 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  the  Filipino  capital,  a  priest  and  two  mem 
bers  of  the  so-called  Filipino  Congress,  who  hid  themselves  in  the 
woods  during  the  fighting,  returned  and  surrendered  to  the  American 
troops  and  stated  that  2,000  of  the  Filipino  soldiers  were  anxious  to 
give  up  fighting  and  would  do  so,  except  for  their  officers  to  keep 
them  under  arms.  The  natives  were  still  further  depressed  by  the 
loss  of  one  of  their  best  leaders,  General  Montenegro,  who  was 
killed  in  the  battle  of  Malolos.  Next  to  Aguinaldo  and  General 
Luna,  he  was  the  greatest  of  the  Filipino  officers. 

On  April  3,  1899,  General  Otis  cabled  to  the  Adjutant-General 
at  Washington  as  follows: — "Present  indications  denote  insurgent 


484  THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  WAR 

government  in  perilous  condition.  Its  army  defeated,  discouraged 
and  shattered.  Insurgents  returning  to  their  homes  in  cities  and 
villages  between  here  and  points  north  of  Malolos  which  reconnoiter- 
ing  parties  have  reached,  and  desire  protection  of  Americans.  Views 
from  Visayan  Islands  more  encouraging  every  clay." 

On  April  4th,  General  MacArthur's  brigade  moved  out  of 
Malolos  to  the  northward  in  the  hope  of  finding  the  main  body  of 
the  Filipino  army  and  effectually  destroying  it.  They  were  not  able 
however  to  locate  the  remnants  of  Aguinaldo's  forces,  although  they 
went  for  twelve  miles  seeking  some  trace  of  them. 

About  the  same  time  the  United  States  Cruiser  Charleston,  while 
cruising  along  the  west  coast  of  Luzon  Island  sent  a  boat  inshore 
near  Dagupan  to  make  soundings.  The  rebels  opened  fire,  wound 
ing  one  of  the  officers,  whereupon  the  cruiser  bombarded  the  town 
and  the  insurgents  fled. 

Malolos  soon  resumed  its  natural  aspect.  Business  went  on  as 
usual  and  there  was  nothing  extraordinary  except  the  nightly  attacks 
of  the  insurgents  and  the  hard  work  of  the  soldiers  who  were  active 
in  cleaning  up  the  city  and  turning  it  from  a  place  of  pestilence  to  a 
healthful  spot. 

Reports  reached  Manila  about  this  time,  that  there  had  been 
trouble  on  the  island  of  Negros.  On  March  27,  1899,  a  number  of 
bandits  headed  by  a  man  named  Papaissio  attempted  a  rebellion  and 
killed  several  officials.  A  proclamation  was  issued  calling  upon  the 
natives  to  rise  up  against  the  American  troops.  Two  expeditions 
were  sent  to  the  scene  of  the  disturbance  and  on  April  2d,  the  head 
quarters  of  the  bandits  at  Labzid  was  captured  and  the  town  itself 
destroyed.  Thirty-five  prisoners  were  brought  back,  and  the  rebellion 
was  practically  quelled  at  the  start.  In  Samar  things  were  reported 
to  be  quiet  and  the  Filipinos  were  said  to  be  anxious  to  accept 
American  rule. 

LAWTON    LEADS    AN    EXPEDITION. 

After  the  taking  of  the  capital  it  was  decided  to  send  an  expedi 
tion  across  the  Laguna  de  Bay  and  capture  Santa  Cruz.  General 
Lawton  was  in  command  and  under  him  were  three  gunboats  and 
i, 500  picked  men.  The  expedition  consisted  of  eight  companies  of 


THE  NATIVES  MAKE  A  BOLD  STAND  485 

the  Fourteenth  United  States  Infantry,  three  companies  of  the 
Fourth  Cavalry,  four  of  the  North  Dakota  Volunteers,  four  of  the 
Idaho  Volunteers,  two  mountain  guns  and  two  hundred  sharpshooters 
of  the  Fourteenth  Infantry. 

General  Lawton  captured  Santa  Cruz  after  a  splendid  battle. 
The  attack  was  made  simultaneously  by  land  and  water  and  the  tak 
ing  of  the  city  was  the  result  of  a  spirited  charge.  Santa  Cruz  is  the 
military  key  of  Laguna  de  Bay,  the  large  sheet  of  water  in  the  centre 
of  the  island  of  Luzon,  connected  with  the  Bay  of  Manila  by  the 
Pasig  River.  The  capture  of  this  city  cut  off  the  only  telegraphic 
communication  between  the  insurgent  forces  to  the  north  of  Manila 
and  those  south  of  Manila,  and  consequently  these  two  bodies  are 
forced  to  act  independently  of  one  another  in  the  future. 

On  Saturday  night  April  8th,  the  troops  started,  but  progress  in 
boats  was  slow  so  that  they  did  not  reach  the  other  side  of  the  lake 
until  noon  of  the  following  day.  Consequently  the  attack  was  post 
poned  until  the  dawn  of  April  loth.  Then  the  line  advanced  in 
extended  order,  the  gunboats  moving  slowly  along  the  shore,  shelling 
the  wooded  places  in  front  of  the  American  lines,  driving  the  Fili 
pinos  inland.  The  Catling  guns  were  placed  upon  the  decks  of  the 
boats  and  used  to  clear  some  entrenchments  which  were  near  enough 
for  the  fire  to  be  effective.  The  battalion  of  the  First  Idaho  had  a 
short  sharp  fight  against  a  force  of  Filipinos  on  the  high  ground  on 
the  right  of  our  advancing  line.  They  made  a  sudden  charge  upon 
the  enemy  which  turned  and  fled  leaving  many  of  their  dead  on  the 
field.  In  order  that  the  prisoners  taken,  might  be  safely  guarded  by 
a  few  men,  their  hands  and  feet  were  tied.  General  Lawton  hap 
pened  to  see  them  in  that  condition,  and  with  his  own  hands  cut  the 
bands  from  the  prisoners  and  forbade  such  action  in  the  future. 

THE    NATIVES    MAKE    A    BOLD    STAND. 

A  mile  south  of  the  town  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  the  Filipinos 
made  a  strong  stand  against  the  advancing  forces.  They  did  not 
retreat  even  when  the  gunboat  Caste  advanced  and  began  to  shell 
their  lines,  but  pluckily  answered  back  with  their  muskets.  A  troop 
of  Cavalry  however,  which  was  advancing  on  the  city,  wheeled  round 
and  put  these  insurgents  to  flight.  They  rushed  forward  at  double 


486  THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  WAR 

time,  stopping  now  and  then  to  fire  an  effective  volley.  The  gun 
boat  Laguna  de  Bay  bombarded  the  entrenchments  close  to  the  town 
and  also  the  stone  buildings  occupied  by  fighting  men,  particularly 
the  prison  which  was  used  as  a  fort.  The  shells  crushed  in  the  roof 
of  this  building  in  the  bombardment.  The  main  line  of  the  Amerp 
cans  in  the  meantime  swept  the  Filipinos  before  them,  driving  them 
in  full  retreat  through  the  town  to  the  swamp  beyond.  The  advance 
was  conducted  in  perfect  system,  and  the  exhibition  of  tactics  was- 
enough  to  gladden  the  heart  of  a  military  expert. 

General  Lawton  with  the  Fourteenth  Infantry  under  his  per 
sonal  direction  made  a  magnificent  charge  across  a  bridge  over  a 
creek  on  the  southern  side  of  the  town,  The  men  tore  down  a  stone 
barricade  with  their  hands  and  drove  the  enemy  backward  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet.  After  the  capture  of  the  city  General  Lawton 
established  his  headquarters  at  the  palace  of  the  Governor  of  the 
Alcalda  Mayor,  province  of  Laguna  of  which  Santa  Cruz  is  the  capital. 

GENERAL     LAWTON's    NARROW    ESCAPE. 

During  the  advance  on  the  city,  when  the  troops  were  half  way 
to  the  town  from  the  landing  place  a  single  Filipino  remained  be 
hind  when  his  comrades  fled,  and  bravely  met  death  in  an  attempt  to 
kill  General  Lawton.  He  secreted  himself  in  a  house  which  he 
knew  the  Americans  would  pass  When  General  Lawton  and  his 
staff  reached  this  place  the  insurgent,  who  was  only  six  feet  away, 
fired  point  blank  at  the  group  of  officers.  Fortunately  in  his  excite 
ment  his  aim  was  bad,  and  the  bullet  flew  wide  of  its  mark.  After 
firing,  the  native  jumped  from  a  window  and  fired  from  the  yard,  but 
again  failed  to  hit  anybody.  Before  he  could  get  out  of  the  yard,  he 
was  surrounded  and  shot  three  times.  Even  then  he  would  not  sur 
render,  until  he  was  finally  struck  with  a  gun  and  completely  disabled. 

Two  members  of  the  Fourteenth  Infantry  who  ventured  a  hundred 
yards  beyond  the  American  lines  had  a  lively  experience.  No  sooner 
had  they  gotten  out  of  sight  of  our  lines  than  they  were  surrounded 
by  insurgent  troops  who  took  them  prisoners.  They  were  disarmed, 
but  one  of  them  managed  to  conceal  his  bayonet  in  the  leg  of  his 
trousers,  and  while  their  captors  were  taking  them  to  the  insurgent 
line,  this  man  whose  name  was  Myers,  suddenly  drew  the  bayonet 


GENERAL  OTIS'  REPORT  487 

and  stabbed  the  Filipino  who  was  guarding  him.  At  the  same  time 
the  other  prisoner  grabbed  his  guard's  rifle  and  struck  out  with  it  in 
every  direction,  the  natives  were  so  surprised  that  for  a  time  they 
did  not  know  what  to  do,  and  both  of  the  Americans  ran  for  their 
lives  in  the  direction  of  their  camp.  Myers  reached  the  American 
lines  safely,  but  the  other  man  did  not  arrive,  and  it  was  thought  he 
had  been  lost.  Searching  parties  were  sent  out  to  look  for  him,  and 
he  was  finally  found  hidden  in  a  tree  where  he  had  climbed  to  escape 
the  Filipinos  who  had  pursued  him,  and  where  he  stayed  for  many 
weary  hours. 

GENERAL    OTIS*    REPORT. 

In  reference  to  this  attack  of  Lawton,  General  Otis  reported  as 
follows  : 

"  Enemy  left  ninety-three  uniformed  dead  on  the  field  and  a 
number  seriously  wounded.  Lawton  captured  city  without  destruc 
tion  of  property,  his  loss  ten  wounded,  slightly  except  two.  One 
since  died.  Lieutenant  Filing  only  officer  wounded,  slightly  in  hand. 
Enemy  retired  eastward,  Lawton  in  pursuit  this  morning." 

In  that  pursuit  General  Lawton  captured  two  more  towns, 
Lumban  and  Pagsangan.  He  also  captured  two  gunboats  and  four 
launches  in  the  Santa  Cruz  river,  which  had  been  taken  from  their 
owners  by  the  insurgents.  From  Lumban  he  advanced  eight  miles 
north  and  occupied  Pacte  the  military  centre  of  the  district.  The 
troops  forded  two  rivers  and  marched  through  tangles  of  underbrush 
driving  a  small  number  of  the  enemy  before  them.  In  taking  Pacte 
the  North  Dakotas  were  in  the  centre  and  the  sharpshooters  flank 
ing,  when  the  column  suddenly  encountered  a  cross  fire  of  the  rebels. 
Sharpshooters  were  moved  out  quickly  and  a  squad  of  five  of  the 
North  Dakota  men  was  surprised  by  a  volley  at  fifteen  yards  from  a 
concealed  trench.  Two  were  killed  and  two  wounded,  one  mortally. 
The  Dakota  sharpshooters  rushed  the  steep  incline  and  took  the 
trenches. 

As  the  Flying  Column,  as  Lawton's  expedition  was  called,  moved 
northward,  the  enemy  retreated  everywhere  before  it.  Late  after  a 
victorious  march  General  Lawton  was  ordered  to  return  to  Manila 
with  his  expedition.  All  of  the  territory  taken  by  him  was  evacu 
ated.  It  was  considered  unwise  to  deplete  our  troops  on  the  island 


488  THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE   WAR 

by  leaving  sufficient  garrison  in  the  various  places  captured  to  hold 
them.  The  main  objects  of  the  expedition,  which  had  been  to  cap 
ture  the  insurgents  boats  and  distribute  copies  of  the  proclamation 
issued  by  our  commissioners  had  been  accomplished  and  the  strength 
of  the  American  troops  had  been  emphasized  throughout  the  lake 
region,  consequently  it  was  considered  that  the  expedition  had  been 
very  successful. 

AN    ATTACK    ON    GENERAL    WHEATON. 

In  the  meantime  General  Wheaton  had  been  having  a  lively 
time  near  Malolos.  The  rebels  cut  the  telegraph  line  at  several 
places  between  Manila  and  Malolos,  and  signal  fires  were  lighted  and 
rockets  sent  up  among  the  foothills  to  the  right  of  the  railroad.  All 
this  signified  that  something  was  going  to  happen,  and  so  it  proved, 
for  later  the  enemy  attacked  the  outposts  of  the  Minnesota  regiment 
between  Bigaa  and  Bocave,  five  miles  south  of  Malolos,  killing  two 
men  and  wounding  fourteen.  Simultaneously  the  outposts  of  the 
Oregon  regiment  at  Marilalo,  the  next  station  on  the  way  to  Manila, 
were  attacked  with  the  result  that  three  Americans  were  killed  and 
two  wounded,  while  the  enemy  lost  ten  men  killed  and  six  wounded. 
Troops  were  concentrated  along  the  railroad  as  thickly  as  possible 
and  the  rebels  were  driven  back  to  the  foothills. 

WOULD    NOT    WAIT    TO    BE    KILLED. 

Later  General  Wheaton  with  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania  and  the 
Second  Oregon  regiments  and  two  guns  advanced  to  drive  the  rebels 
still  further.  He  met  with  slight  resistance  near  Santa  Maria  and 
had  one  man  wounded.  The  enemy  bolted  when  shelled  by  the 
artillery  and  burned  and  abandoned  the  town  of  Santa  Maria,  where 
a  thousand  rebels  had  been  reported  to  have  collected.  During  the 
rest  of  the  day  the  enemy  was  in  full  retreat,  burning  the  villages 
behind  them.  Occasionally  a  few  of  them  dropped  to  the  rear  and 
fired  at  the  advancing  American  troops,  thinking  apparently  that  this 
would  check  the  advance  and  cover  the  retreat  of  the  Filipinos. 
Finding  this  ineffectual,  these  rebels  gave  it  up  and  fled  with  the 
others.  As  General  Wheaton  telegraphed  to  Major-General  Otis, 
"  They  would  not  wait  to  be  killed." 


A  LIVELY  SKIRMISH  489 

One  of  the  sad  fortunes  of  war  was  described  in  a  cablegram 
from  Admiral  Dewey,  which  caused  much  comment  in  this  country. 
The  cablegram  tells  the  whole  story  concisely — all  else  is  conjecture. 
It  said  : 

"  The  Yorktown  visited  Baler,  Luzon,  east  coast  of  Luzon,  P.  I., 
April  1 2th  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  and  bringing  away  the  Span 
ish  forces,  consisting  of  eighty  soldiers,  three  officers  and  two  priests, 
which  were  surrounded  by  400  insurgents.  Some  of  the  insurgents 
armed  with  Mauser  rifles  as  reported  by  natives.  Lieutenant  J.  C. 
Gilmore,  while  making  an  examination  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  in 
an  armed  boat,  was  ambushed,  fired  upon  and  captured.  Fate 
unknown,  as  insurgents  refused  to  communicate  afterward.  The 
following  are  missing  : 

Lieutenant  J.  C.  Gilmore,  Chief  Quartermaster  W.  Walton, 
Coxswain  J.  Ellsworth,  Gunner's  Mate  H.  J.  Hygard,  Sailmaker's 
Mate  Vendgit,  Seamen  W.  H.  Rynders  and  C.  W.  Woodbury, 
Apprentices  D.  W.  A.  Venville,  J.  Peterson,  Ordinary  Seamen  F. 
Brisolese  and  O.  B.  McDonald,  Landsmen  L.  T.  Edwards,  F.  Ander 
sen,  J.  Dillon  and  C.  A.  Morrissey." 

Here  again  was  noble  sacrifice  "for  humanity."  The  little  band 
of  Spanish  troops  less  than  a  hundred  all  told,  had  been  keeping  a 
large  number  of  Filipinos  at  bay  at  Baler  for  months.  Their  con 
dition  had  become  critical,  and  just  at  the  time  when  there  seemed 
no  hope,  the  gallant  Admiral  made  this  brave  attempt  to  aid  those 
who  had  a  few  months  before  been  his  sworn  enemies. 

The  fate  of  the  reconnoitering  party  is  still  doubtful.  It  was 
thought  that  they  had  been  mutilated  and  tortured  after  the  Filipino 
fashion  of  treating  prisoners,  but  word  was  received  some  days  after 
that  the  unfortunate  men  were  being  held  as  prisoners  of  war  in  the 
hope  that  some  day  they  might  be  useful  to  the  rebels. 

A    LIVELY    SKIRMISH. 

A  lively  skirmish  took  place  on  April  2ist.  Three  companies 
of  the  South  Dakota  marched  from  Bocave,  and  united  with  three 
companies  of  the  Minnesota  regiment  just  north  of  that  place.  There 
they  encountered  about  500  insurgents  and  a  brisk  interchange  of 
shots  resulted.  The  insurgents  finally  fell  back  in  good  order,  after 


490  THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  WAR 

suffering  great  losses.  The  Americans  lost  one  man  wounded,  and 
returned  to  Bocave  after  ammunition  was  exhausted.  The  army 
tugs  along  the  river  took  up  the  fighting  and  drove  the  insurgents 
inland. 

A  force  of  200  insurgents  attacked  the  outposts  of  the  Washing 
ton  regiment  on  the  same  day  near  Tagig,  south  of  Pasig.  They 
were  routed  after  two  hours  hard  fighting,  leaving  twelve  killed  and 
several  wounded  on  the  field.  Three  of  our  men  were  wounded  in 
this  fight. 

General  Lawton  was  put  in  charge  of  a  new  flying  column  and 
started  to  outflank  the  enemy  before  joining  MacArthur  north  of 
Malolos. 

A    DESPERATE    FIGHT. 

While  he  was  on  the  way,  one  of  the  most  depressing  of  all  our 
battles  with  the  Filipinos  occurred  near  Quenqua,  about  four  miles 
northeast  of  Malolos.  In  the  engagement  two  gallant  officers, 
Colonel  John  M.  Stotzenberg,  of  the  First  Nebraska,  and  Lieutenant 
Sisson  of  the  same  regiment  were  killed,  and  our  total  loss  was  six 
killed  and  forty-four  wounded. 

The  insurgents  had  a  horseshoe  trench,  about  a  mile  longv 
encircling  a  rice  field  on  the  edge  of  a  wood.  Major  Bell,  with  forty 
cavalrymen,  while  making  a  reconnoissance,  encountered  a  strong 
outpost  and  at  the  first  fire  one  of  his  men  was  killed  and  five 
wounded.  The  Americans  retired,  carrying  their  wounded  back  with 
great  difficulty,  closely  followed  by  the  enemy.  Reinforcements  were 
sent  for,  and  two  battalions  finally  arrived,  under  Colonel  Stotzenberg. 
He  decided  that  a  charge  was  the  best  means  of  dislodging  the 
enemy,  and  he  led  the  advance  in  person.  When  about  200  yards 
from  the  enemy's  breastworks,  a  bullet  struck  him,  and  he  died 
instantly.  Lieutenant  Sisson  suffered  the  same  fate.  The  bullet 
which  pierced  his  heart,  pierced  also  the  picture  of  the  woman  which 
he  wore  around  his  neck,  suspended  by  a  ribbon. 

The  arrival  of  the  artillery  materially  aided  the  American  forces, 
and  the  Filipinos  fell  back  to  another  series  of  trenches,  a  mile  away. 

The  eyes  of  the  leaders  now  centered  upon  Calumpit,  to  which 
the  insurgent  Government  had  retired  when  Malolos  was  taken. 


FUNSTON  *S  MAD  FEAT  491 

jVith  its  fall,  they  hoped  would  come  the  fall  of  the  whole  fabric  of 
>he  so  called  Filipino  Government,  and  in  this  it  would  seem  they 
were  correct. 

THE    TAKING    OF    CALUMPIT. 

The  taking  of  Calumpit  was  characterized  by  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  deeds  of  daring  the  war  has  seen — a  deed  which  made 
Colonel  Fred  Funston, — "  Fighting  Fred,"  as  they  call  him — the 
most  talked  of  man  of  the  day. 

The  troops  had  advanced  step  by  step  to  the  edge  of  the  Bag- 
bag  River  beyond  which  the  enemy  was  intrenched  with  great  skill 
and  was  able  to  hold  a  large  force  at  bay.  The  bridge  over  the  rivei 
had  been  cleverly  stripped  by  the  Filipinos,  and  had  been  so  fixed 
that  the  girders  would  part  if  a  train  were  forced  over  thus  throwing 
the  whole  into  the  river.  Fortunately  the  girders  fell  before  their 
time.  The  advance  was  made  along  the  railroad.  The  Kansas 
regiment  was  on  the  right  side  of  the  road  and  the  Utah  light  artillery 
and  the  First  Montana  on  the  left.  In  the  centre  was  an  armored  train 
mounted  with  six-pounders  and  rapid  fire  guns,  pushed  ahead  by 
Chinamen.  The  train  was  moved  right  up  to  the  mouth  of  the 
bridge  and  a  vigorous  response  was  made  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy. 

FUNSTON'S  MAD  FEAT. 

Then  Colonel  Funston  did  one  of  the  dare-devil  feats  which  have 
made  him  famous.  u  Volunteers  to  cross  the  bridge,"  he  cried,  "  and 
I'll  go  myself." 

There  were  too  many  volunteers  eager  for  the  adventure,  so  the 
doughty  Colonel  had  to  pick  his  men.  He  chose  Lieutenant  Bell,  a 
private  of  Company  E,  one  from  Company  K,  trumpeter  Barsfield 
and  Corporal  Ferguson  of  Company  I.  This  gallant  half-dozen  set 
out  for  their  perilous  feat  in  the  storm  of  shot  which  rained  around 
them.  Slowly  they  crawled  accross  the  iron  work  of  the  bridge,  with 
Filipino  bullets  popping  from  the  heights  above  them.  When  they 
reached  thd  Broken  span,  they  dropped  into  the  swift  water  and  swam 
ashore.  Colonel  Funston  was  the  first  to  reach  the  bank,  and  as  the 
brave  six  Americans  rose,  dripping  from  the  water,  and  charged  upon 
the  trenches  with  wild  western  yells,  the  armed  Filipinos  fled  before 
them. 


492  THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  WAR 

The  severest  fighting  however  was  encountered  by  the  other 
brigade  of  Mac  Arthur's  division,  that  commanded  by  General  Hale, 
and  consisting  of  the  Nebraska,  South  Dakota  and  Iowa  regiments. 
Six  were  killed  and  twelve  wounded  in  this  engagement,  and  many 
rebels  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  and  350  prisoners  were  taken.  The 
fiercest  engagement  took  place  at  Pulillan,  north  of  Quenqua.  Here 
the  Filipinos  were  strongly  entrenched,  and  continued  to  receive 
reinforcements  from  Calumpit.  When  night  closed  General  Hale, 
and  General  Wheaton  had  joined  forces,  and  as  Calumpit  was  too 
strongly  fortified  to  be  taken  offhand  the  troops  waited  until  morning 
before  making  the  attack. 

This  was  the  last  ditch  of  the  Filipinos,  They  brought  artillery 
into  use  for  the  first  time  since  the  war  began,  but  did  not  handle  it 
with  much  effect.  The  attack  was  pushed  effectively  and  Calumpit 
fell,  the  enemy  retiring  to  Apalit.  They  finally  were  forced  out  of 
that  town,  which  they  burned  as  they  left  it. 

THE    MOST    BRILLIANT    ACHIEVEMENT    OF    THE    WAR. 

In  this,  the  last  great  battle  of  the  Philippines,  Colonel  Funston 
again  proved  himself  a  man  absolutely  without  fear.  He  performed 
what  General  MacArthur  said  \vas  the  most  brilliant  and  daring 
achievement  of  the  war,  and  won  a  victory  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  American  arms. 

The  victorious  march  of  the  American  troops  had  again  been 
checked  by  a  river — the  Rio  Grande.  It  was  too  deep  to  ford  and 
the  bridge  across  it  had  been  stripped,  as  usual,  by  the  enemy. 
Something  had  to  be  done  and  Colonel  Funston  volunteered  to  do 
it.  He  asked  to  be  allowed  to  cross  the  river  and  Wheaton-  gave 
him  permission.  The  first  attempt  to  cross  was  to  be  made  at  night, 
some  miles  below  the  bridge.  The  barking  of  dogs  revealed  activity 
in  the  American  lines  however,  and  the  Filipinos  were  ready  with 
showers  of  bullets  to  check  the  attempt. 

Kansas  and  Montana  volunteers  had  occupied  the  whole  town 
except  the  splendid  entrenchments  which  controlled  the  bridge  over 
the  river.  The  entire  strength  of  the  enemy  had  been  concentrated 
in  these  trenches  and  they  must  be  taken.  Only  the  river  (100  yards 
wide)  separated  the  two  forces.  Funston  first  thought  of  taking 


THE  FIRST  STEP  TOWARD  PEACE  493 

fifteen  men  over  the  bridge  at  night,  but  Corporal  Ferguson  of  Com 
pany  I,  Kansas,  reconnoitered  and  reported  that  plan  impracticable. 
He  went  within  ten  feet  of  the  insurgent  sentry  on  the  bridge  and 
was  not  discovered. 

The  next  day  Funston  determined  to  brazenly  defy  the  bullets  of 
the  Filipinos  and  cross  the  river  before  the  very  eyes  of  the  enemy; 
with  1 20  Kansas  men  he  went  to  a  point  several  hundred  yards  from 
the  bridge,  where  two  privates,  White  and  Trembly,  swam  with  a 
rope  to  the  opposite  shore.  They  landed  and  attached  the  rope  to  a 
portion  of  the  insurgent  trench,  being  under  the  protection  of  the 
vigorous  fire  of  our  troops.  Several  insurgents  were  on  the  shore 
where  the  men  landed,  but  fled  when  the  two  fearless  fellows  began 
yelling.  The  rope  was  attached  to  three  rafts  loaded  with  fifty  men, 
and  these  were  drawn  to  the  shore  in  safety,  although  exposed  to  an 
awful  fire  from  the  enemy. 

This  little  band  advanced  upon  the  trenches  and  literally  scared 
the  Filipinos  out  of  their  stronghold.  The  bridge  was  thus  left 
without  protection  and  our  troops  immediately  crossed  it  and  swept 
the  enemy  before  them.  General  Luna,  who  commanded  the 
retreating  forces  in  person,  tried  to  check  the  demoralization  of  his 
army  but  was  powerless.  They  could  understand  some  things,  but 
such  fearlessness  and  such  fighting  was  too  much  for  them,  and  they 
fled. 

FUNSTON    MADE    BRIGADIER-GENERAL. 

In  recognition  of  his  bravery  in  this  and  other  battles,  Funston 
was  appointed  a  Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers  on  May  2d. 
The  appointment  was  strongly  recommended  by  General  Otis 
and  Major-General  MacArthur,  both  of  whom  cabled  to  Washington 
the  most  unstinted  praise  of  the  fearless  Kansan. 

General  Funston  has  been  a  fighter  all  his  life.  His  career  has 
been  one  of  unusual  excitement,  and  has  served  to  bring  out  strongly 
those  qualities  which  go  so  far  toward  making  a  popular  hero.  His 
first  appearance  before  the  public  was  made  at  a  political  meeting  in 
Kansas  when  he  was  little  more  than  a  boy.  The  meeting  was  in 
opposition  to  his  father  who  was  running  for  Congress,  and  in  the 
midst  of  it  young  Funston  sprang  upon  the  platform  unannounced 


V94 


THE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE   WAR. 


and  spoke  so  eloquently  to  the  crowd  that  he  won  many  of  them  to 
his  side  and  aided  materially  in  securing  his  father's  nomination. 

After  being  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  graduated  from 
the  Kansas  State  University,  he  set  to  work  as  a  reporter  on  the 
Fort  Smith  Tribune,  a  paper  with  strong  Democratic  tendencies. 
While  the  editor  was  absent,  young  Funston  turned  the  sheet  into  a 
Republican  organ  and  wrote  some  burning  editorials  in  favor  of  that 
party.  Naturally  it  cost  him  his  position,  and  after  more  or  less 
indefinite  wandering  he  joined  the  troops  in  fighting  Indians. 
Shortly  after  winning  his  commission  in  some  hot  fights  he  led  the 
memorable  expedition  to  Death  Valley  and  then  went  on  a  scientific 
exploration  to  Alaska  to  collect  flora  and  fauna  for  the  Government 
From  there  he  went  to  Cuba  and  joined  the  army  of  Garcia.  Here, 
as  elsewhere,  his  absolute  fearlessness  made  him  conspicuous  and  he 
was  soon  appointed  chief  of  artillery.  His  services  with  the  Cuban 
army  continued  until  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain 
broke  out,  when  he  took  command  of  the  Kansas  regiment  and 
began  the  series  of  triumphs  which  has  made  him  one  of  the  most 
admired  men  in  the  Army. 


OVERTURES    FOR    PEACE. 


At  the  time,  it  appeared  as  though  the  end  of  the  war  had  come. 
It  was  no  secret  that  the  Filipino  army  was  discouraged  and  dissatis 
fied  at  their  condition,  and  this  move  toward  peace  was  looked  upon 
as  a  first  step  in  the  direction  of  surrender. 

Colonel  Arguelesses  and  Lieutenant  Bernal  were  escorted  to 
General  Otis'  headquarters  with  the  greatest  formality  and  there 
they  were  received  by  the  victorious  commander  with  courtesy  and 
respect.  They  stated,  in  behalf  of  their  chief,  that  they  were 
desirous  of  ending  the  war  as  soon  as  possible,  but  that  could  not  be 
done  until  Aguinaldo  should  have  time  to  summon  the  Filipino  Con 
gress  and  place  the  terms  before  that  body  for  action.  Therefore, 
they  requested  General  Otis  to  order  his  forces  to  cease  hostilities  for 
two  weeks  until  that  necessary  step  could  be  taken.  General  Otis 
heard  the  envoys  to  the  end  and  then  replied  :  "  Tell  your  General  that 
there  must  be  no  reservations.  He  must  lay  down  his  arms  at  once. 
I  cannot  recognize  the  Filipino  Government  or  its  Congress.  If  you 


CONTINUED  FIGHTING.  495 

wish  peace,  surrender.  You  will  be  allowed  perfect  amnesty.  There 
will  be  no  punishments  for  acts  already  committed.  America  for 
gives  you. 

'The  proclamation  issued  by  my  Government  is  sincere,  and 
you  shall  share  with  our  own  people  the  fullest  liberty.  But  now 
you  must  make  a  complete  and  unreserved  surrender.  You  are  com 
pelled  to  admit  that  you  are  defeated. 

"  America  did  not  begin  the  war.  It  was  of  your  making.  There 
is  a  big  army  on  the  way  from  the  United  States  and  there  is  nothing 
for  you  to  do  but  surrender.  This  is  absolute." 

This  constant  refusal  to  recognize  the  Filipino  Congress  has 
nettled  Aguinaldo  not  a  little,  and  it  is  an  interesting  commentary  on 
his  scheme  that  only  sixty  of  the  300  members  of  the  Congress  have 
taken  the  necessary  oath  of  allegiance  required  by  their  constitution. 

The  overtures  toward  peace  were  fruitless,  and  the  two  com 
missioners  returned  to  the  insurgent  army,  expressing  the  hope  of 
being  able  to  reach  some  definite  decision  within  the  next  few  days. 

CONTINUED    FIGHTING. 

But  the  Americans  continued  their  preparations  for  more  fight 
ing.  Positions  were  strengthened  and  one  or  two  small  skirmishes 
took  place.  Major  Bell,  with  a  squad  of  scouts,  occupied  the  town 
of  Macabebe,  about  four  miles  southwest  of  Calumpit  and  the  invad 
ing  army  was  welcomed  by  the  townsmen  with  cheers  and  the  ringing 
of  bells. 

A  Spanish  prisoner  who  had  escaped  into  the  American  lines 
stated  that  200  Filipinos  had  been  killed  in  General  Male's  advance 
on  Quingan.  This  was  the  largest  number  of  insurgents  killed  in 
any  battle  for  several  months  previous 

During  the  fiist  week  of  May,  Major-General  MacArthur  suc 
ceeded  in  capturing  San  Tomas  after  encountering  strong  resistance. 
Brigadier-General  Hale  attacked  the  enemy  on  the  right  and  Briga 
dier-General  Wheaton  on  the  left.  In  a  daring  charge  made  by  the 
latter's  command,  the  gallant  Funston  added  one  more  brilliant  feat 
of  daring  to  his  already  long  record,  but  this  time  he  came  out  with  a 
badly  wounded  hand.  Colonel  Summers  took  Moasim,  on  the  right, 
with  a  part  of  his  Oregon  and  Minnesota  regiments. 


496  7 HE  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE  WAR. 

When  Major-General  MacArthur's  division  advanced  on  San 
Fernando,  they  found  the  town  deserted  by  the  rebels  who  had  left 
only  a  small  cletatchment  to  cover  their  retreat.  The  success  of  the 
American  arms  was  so  marked  that  Aguinaldo  sent  an  emissary  to 
General  Otis  requesting  passes  for  his  commissioners  to  enter  our 
lines.  He  was  told  that  an  unarmed  emissary  would  never  be  stopped. 

PRESIDENT  MCKINLEY'S  PROPOSED  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  May  I7th,  General  Lawton's  advance 
guard  under  Colonel  Summers  moved  on  San  Isidro,  the  insurgent 
capital  and  captured  it  after  some  fighting.  The  American  forces 
were  now  in  such  strong  position  that  they  seemed  to  hold  the  key 
to  the  situation  and  seven  commissioners  from  Aguinaldo  met 

o 

General  Otis  and  discussed  further  plans  for  a  settlement.  They 
declared  that  they  were  not  empowered  to  bind  the  Filipino  Congress 
to  any  agreement  and  could  only  submit  to  that  body  the  results  of 
the  conference.  The  United  States  Commissioners  submitted  a  pro 
posed  form  of  government  which  had  been  approved  by  President 
McKinley.  It  was  as  follows  : 

'  While  the  final  decision  as  to  the  form  of  government  is  in  the 
hands  of  Congress,  the  President,  under  his  military  powers,  pending 
the  action  of  Congress,  stands  ready  to  offer'  the  following  form  of 
government  : 

"  A  Governor-General  to  be  appointed  by  the  President ;  a 
Cabinet  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor-General  ;  all  the  Judges  to 
be  appointed  by  the  President ;  the  Heads  of  Departments  and 
Judges  to  be  either  Americans  or  Filipinos  or  both  ;  and  also  a 
General  Advisory  Council,  its  members  to  be  chosen  by  the  people 
by  a  form  of  suffrage  to  be  hereafter  carefully  determined  upon. 

"  The  President  earnestly  desires  that  bloodshed  cease,  and  that 
the  people  of  the  Philippines,  at  an  early  date,  enjoy  the  largest 
measure  of  self-government  compatible  with  peace  and  order." 

While  the  discussion  was  still  going  on,  a  sharp  skirmish  took 
place  near  San  Fernando,  in  which  fifty  Filipinos  were  killed  and 
many  wounded.  The  American  losses  were  two  men  killed  and 
twelve  wounded.  Another  small  engagement  took  place  at  Santa 
Rita,  in  which  the  Filipinos  were  repulsed. 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY  TO  RETURN  HOME.  497 

On  May  8th,  the  President  issued  orders  stating  that  in  each  of 
the  new  possessions — Cuba,  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico — there 
would  be  created  "  the  offices  of  Auditor  of  the  islands;  one  Assist 
ant  Auditor  for  auditing  the  accounts  of  the  Department  of  Customs  ; 
and  one  Assistant  Auditor  for  auditing  the  accounts  of  the  Post 
Offices,  who  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  whose 
duties  shall  be  to  audit  all  accounts  of  the  islands. 

"  There  is  hereby  created  and  shall  be  maintained  the  office  of 
Treasurer  of  the  Islands  which  shall  be  filled  by  the  appointment 
thereto  of  an  officer  of  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States." 

The  constant  procrastination  of  the  Filipinos  in  the  settlement 
of  the  terms  of  surrender  soon  exhausted  the  patience  of  the  authori 
ties  at  Washington.  The  stand  taken  by  General  Otis  was  known  to 
be  approved  and  his  need  of  more  troops  was  recognized.  During 
May,  reinforcements  were  sent  to  Manila  and  arrangements  made  for 
the  shipment  of  2,000  more  troops  to  leave  San  Francisco  whenever 
necessary.  The  proposition  of  General  MacArthur  to  arm  the 
Macabebes  and  have  them  join  the  American  forces  in  fighting  their 
old  enemies,  the  Tagalos,  was  also  looked  upon  favorably  as  follow 
ing  an  experiment  England  had  so  successfully  made  in  her  colonies. 

Immense  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  President  McKinley 
to  issue  a  call  for  additional  volunteers  but  as  General  Otis  had  not 
yet  asked  for  such  a  step  it  became  understood  that  nothing  in  that 
direction  would  be  done  until  a  request  for  large  reinforcements  was 
made. 

ADMIRAL    DEWEY    TO    RETURX    HOME. 

Meantime,  Admiral  Dewey,  at  his  own  urgent  request,  was 
relieved  and  was  succeeded  by  Rear- Admiral  John  C.  Watson,  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  Mare  Island  Navy  Yard  at  San  Francisco.  As 
soon  as  it  was  announced  that  Dewey  would  return  home,  the  whole 
country  rose  as  one  man  to  prepare  a  fitting  reception  to  the  man 
who,  above  all  others,  had  won  the  hearts  of  the  American  people. 
Elaborate  banquets  were  planned  in  all  the  large  cities  he  would  be 
likely  to  visit  on  his  return  and  invitations  were  cabled  to  him.  A 
great  popular  movement  was  started  to  present  him  with  a  handsome 
residence  as  a  gift  of  a  grateful  nation  to  its  hero.  No  sooner  had 
the  movement  started  than  subscriptions  came  pouring  in  from  all 


498  77^5"  CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINE   WAR. 

over  the  country,  and  among  the  first  to  contribute  to  this  national 
testimonial  was  President  McKinley. 

Dewey's  departure  from  Manila  on  May  2Oth,  was  a  rousing 
ovation.  As  the  Olympia  got  under  way  the  Oregon,  the  Baltimore 
and  the  Concord  fired  the  Admiral's  salute,  and  at  the  first  shot  the 
bands  on  board  started  and  the  white-clad  sailors  swarmed  on  deck  and 
gave  cheer  after  cheer.  And  then  came  a  short  half-hour  which,  in 
noise  at  least,  equalled  the  memorable  day  which  first  sent  Dewey's 
name  sounding  around  the  world.  Guns  were  fired  seemingly  from 
everywhere,  bands  played  and  men  shouted  themselves  hoarse,  little 
steamers,  darting  here  and  there  in  excitement,  whistled  their  shrill 
farewells  to  the  departing  Admiral,  and  big  steamers,  standing 
stolidly  in  the  harbor,  blew  their  deep  basses  to  swell  the  chorus. 
The  whole  of  Manila  had  gone  hero-mad,  and  through  it  all,  the 
hero  bowed  his  triumphant  way,  sorry  to  leave  the  scene  of  his  new- 
won  fame,  yet  glad  to  get  home  again  to  quiet  and  to  rest. 

His  very  leaving  was  a  sign  that  peace  was  near  for  he  had 
requested  to  be  kept  on  duty  until  the  war  was  over. 


RETURN  TO:      CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 
198  Main  Stacks 


LOAN  PERIOD     1 
Home  Use 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS. 

Renewals  and  Recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  the  due  date. 
Books  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW. 


nrn  ?  n  1QQQ 

Utu  ^  "  '333 

MAY  1  1  2002 

ULU  0  9  2004 

- 

FORM  NO.  DD6 
50M 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
Berkeley,  California  94720-6000 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


€022710117 


